Femto Forum, NGMN Alliance unite for femtocells

The Femto Forum and the NGMN Alliance, the group made up of leading operators developing technologies for 4G, agreed to cooperate to ensure that next generation mobile networks can incorporate femtocells from the very beginning of their deployment rather than integrating the technology after.

Incorporating femtocells from the very beginning will enable mobile operators to manage the costs of rollouts, plan spectrum use and ensure optimum coverage and capacity, the groups said. The two groups will be involved in establishing clear performance targets, fundamental recommendations and deployment scenarios for next generation mobile broadband networks incorporating femtocells and to help ensure that cost/performance ratios are optimized.

"Adding femtocells to existing cellular networks provides operators with numerous benefits, but rolling out a completely new mobile technology designed to include femtocells introduces fundamental and powerful advantages," said Dr. Peter Meissner, operating officer of the NGMN Alliance. "The partnership between the Femto Forum and the NGMN Alliance will offer operators a completely different approach to network rollout than exists today."

For more:
- check out this release [1]

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[2]Femtocell announcements bring market momentum; questions still remain. Femtocell story [3]