| In a recently conducted survey, it was revealed that | | | | In comparison to better-established technologies like |
| most people switch their cellular phone providers not | | | | Wi-Fi and WiMax which deliver high speed internet |
| because of high priced call plans or poor customer | | | | access. Ray Smets, Vice-President marketing in the |
| services but because of poor network coverage | | | | broadband solution group at Motorola said that |
| inside their homes where 27% to 47% of all wireless | | | | femtocells were getting an equal amount of energy in |
| minutes are spent. New technologies like Wi-Fi to | | | | terms of importance and they were being considered |
| Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) have been | | | | just as significant as other wireless technologies that |
| introduced to tackle poor network coverage inside | | | | were being developed. Search giant Google, invested |
| homes. The most effective technology for | | | | $20 million on Britain based femtocell startup Ubiquisys. |
| improvement of cell coverage is "FEMTOCELL". The | | | | Thomson, world's largest producer of DSL modems, |
| word "femto" denotes something one-quadrillionth the | | | | collaborated with infrastructure maker Nokia Siemens |
| size of a given unit, and is derived from Danish or | | | | Networks to develop femtocell gear. Netgear which |
| Norwegian word "femtenFemtocells are small cellular | | | | makes Wi- Fi routers, co-founded Femto Forum |
| phone base stations designed to be located inside | | | | primarily to promote femtocell standards and |
| offices or homes. They act as in-home wireless | | | | applications. World leaders in technology, Motorola and |
| access points and use high speed internet connection | | | | world web search leader Google are the first |
| rather than wireless network to route a call from a | | | | companies to sincerely work on the improvement of |
| headset to the carrier's switching station from where it | | | | mobile coverage inside houses/buildings. They are |
| is directed to its destination. In simple language, | | | | investing tremendous resources for speedy |
| Femtocell is a handy device, which looks like a -router | | | | development of femtocells. Recently, Motorola bought |
| or modem capable of sidestepping nearby towers and | | | | Startup Netopia to add to its femtocell efforts. The |
| the weak coverage they sometimes provide. They | | | | main question is why there is a sudden flurry of |
| use a DSL/Cable connection to backhaul traffic or in | | | | interest on wireless technology like femtocell? |
| simple words they connect cellular networks through | | | | According to a consultancy ABI Research, by 2012, |
| broadband lines such as digital subscriber line (DSL) or | | | | there will be more than 150 million users of femtocell |
| fiber to the home (FTTH). Therefore, the purpose of | | | | products on 70 million access points worldwide. That's |
| FEMTOCELL is to provide mobile phone users a good | | | | a huge advancement of a technology which is in trails |
| and effective network in areas away from existing | | | | now. Femtocell technology can give newcomers such |
| base stations. Carriers are busy looking for new | | | | as Google, a big launch in the wireless market while |
| methods to find a solution to the ever increasing | | | | offering competition to existing telecom providers such |
| demands of the users for greater and extended | | | | as AT&T and Vonage. |
| coverages. | | | | |