Previously developed and promoted a 2G femtocell product in the late 1990’s, but this did not succeed due to high cost and the requirement for accurate transmission frequency (which required an expensive crystal oscillator part).

Launched the Femto Base Station Router (BSR) in 2007, a platform that combines UMTS radio access and packet core network in a single compact unit. The hardware was developed by SAGEM with femtocell software and the femtocell gateway itself developed by Alcatel-Lucent themselves.

Participated in the Softbank, Japan trial during 2007, but as yet announced very little further information about their product or their partners. The press release for the Softbank trial indicated that their product includes test router (BSR) technology.

Live streaming video through 3G femtocell

Pictured above is a live demonstration of their solution at Mobile World Congress in February 2008, showing streaming video through their 3G femtocell. Their subsystem includes femtocell gateway controller, central management system and compact consumer femtocell devices which communicate using their proprietary protocols over broadband IP. Their subsystem conforms with the standard Iu interface into the core network. The femtocell does not have its own SIM card (as found in some early femtocells), but instead uses digital certificates for authentication purposes.

Their product was selected by Vodafone UK for their commercial launch on 1 July 2009 (known as Vodafone Access Gateway), later rebranded to SureSignal in January 2010.

At Mobile World Congress, February 2010, Alcatel-Lucent announced the expansion of their femtocell range with two new femtocells from other 3rd party vendors. These appear to be from Far Eastern vendors, with one model targetted at enterprise/business use and another for domestic applications.

The model below can also be wall mounted.