broadband connection

Femtocell announcements bring market momentum; questions still remain

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

A few big announcements in the femtocell arena this week should give this market some good momentum. First, Qualcomm made a significant yet unknown investment in ip.access' Oyster 3G system, which uses the residential broadband connection to deliver a 3G signal in the home. The move is seen as validating the femtocell concept, especially since Qualcomm is so adept at making the right technology investments.

The Femto Forum also came to an agreement on a standard way femtocells should connect with the mobile core network. The agreement is welcome news as a number of vendors have come up with their own connection standards. Since femtocells are expected to take on various forms with differing capabilities serving different market segments, no operator wants to be locked into a single type of home base station. That fear has discouraged some operators from making the leap from trial to soft commercial launches.

Moreover, picoChip unveiled its first reference designs for LTE femtocells and picocells, which will enable the company's existing femtocell customers--which include ip.access and Ubiquisys--to upgrade to LTE. That's important because it has been suggested that LTE/4G femtocells could be the starting point for 4G deployments. Operators could actually begin their 4G deployment in the customer's home and 3G as the fallback network.

Of course, at least two big unknowns remain: marketing and cost. Will operators market the service as a boon for voice or data? How does one create a clear message around the femtocell market given its own value propositions? Why would I, as a consumer, need another box in my house? How fast can vendors drive down the price of such a nascent technology? At what price will the service attract a mass number of users? The questions are still numerous at this point.

Continuing with the femtocell theme, check out a preview of the latest Industry Voices article from Maravedis below. FierceBroadbandWireless will be featuring a monthly column from Maravedis analysts Adlane Fellah and Robert Syputa. Maravedis is a research and analysis firm focusing on Broadband Wireless technologies including WiMAX, 802.20, TD-CDMA and Wireless Local Loop Systems. For more information, see www.maravedis-bwa.com. --Lynnette

P.S.--Due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, FierceBroadbandWireless will be delivered to your inbox on Tuesday, May 27. Enjoy the holiday weekend.

Qualcomm invests in femtocell maker ip.access

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Femtocell and picocell maker ip.access received a financial boost from Qualcomm. The company joined existing investors Cisco, Intel Capital, ADC, Motorola Ventures, Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion and Amadeus Capital Partners to fund ip.access' Oyster 3G femtocell system, which uses the residential broadband connection to deliver a 3G signal in the home. ip.access is rumored to have inked a femtocell deal with AT&T.

This move by one of the technology giants in the wireless industry is being seen as validating the concept as well as ramping up the competitive stakes. "Having [Qualcomm's] weight behind us and behind femtocells is good," Andy Tiller, VP of marketing at ip.access, told sister publication FierceWireless Europe. "It's beginning to look like this market is about scale. We need big friends in that kind of market, and Qualcomm is one of those friends."

Ovum analyst Jeremy Green says that while Ovum is still somewhat skeptical about the femtocell business case, Qualcomm's decision to invest in ip.access gives the femtocell proposition more credibility.

This is the second big European announcement from Qualcomm this week. On Monday, the firm announced it was purchasing a 40 MHz chunk of L-band spectrum, prompting speculation that it was planning to use it to deliver mobile TV service.

For more:
- see this press release

Related stories:
Qualcomm wins U.K. spectrum but coy about plans. See this story about Qualcomm's spectrum win
T-Mobile invests in femtocell maker. Read this T-Mobile femtocell article
Rumor: ip.access wins femtocell deal with AT&T. See this article on ip.access and AT&T

Femto Forum agrees on one interoperability standard

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

The Femto Forum announced it has reached consensus on the standard way femtocells should connect with the mobile core network. The agreement is welcomed news as a number of vendors have come up with their own standards and mobile operator femtocell trials are heating up.

With interoperability a key factor in their success, femtocells have been deployed in trial networks without an agreed standard. However, vendors are meeting this week to hammer out the finer details of the agreed interfaces, with plans to send submissions as early as next week to the 3GPP, where there are already three work items in progress related to femtocells. By agreeing on the interfaces, the Forum believes it has removed one of the barriers that have discouraged some operators from making the leap from trial to soft commercial launches.

"We've enabled operators to move forward faster on their deployments," said Simon Saunders, chairman of the Femto Forum. "For many operators, until they have a clear path toward standardization, they won't take that first deployment step. So we've set out a road map, and now more operators are willing to take that step."

For more:
- check out this article from Unstrung
- read this report from Cellular News

Related stories:
Femto Forum adds new members. See this article on the Femto Forum
Motorola, Netgear announce femtocell products. Take a look at this article about Motorola and Netgear's femtocell gear

BT helps businesses set up WiFi hotspots

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:53 -0400

BT has embarked on an initiative to help U.K. businesses turn their premises into WiFi hotspots. Businesses using BT Business Total Broadband can make their BT Business Hub into a BT Openzone wireless hotspot at no cost, allowing anyone visiting these businesses to log on to a separate Internet channel to access the Internet.

BT's initiative uses technology that acts like a separate broadband connection running through the enabled BT Business Hub. At the same time, the BT Business customer's data has priority by continuing to use a separate, secure Web connection.

For more about BT's WiFi initiative:
- check out this article from Unstrung

Related articles:
BT invests in FON BT report
Time Warner goes WiFi with FON FON report

FCC changes broadband calculation rules

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new data collecting and reporting practices for helping to more accurately determine broadband penetration in the U.S. The FCC changed its methods after coming under heavy fire for using a model that was too lax in its definition of what constituted broadband speed, and was not capable of counting broadband adoption accurately at street level. With the new rules, broadband speeds are defined as beginning at 768 kbps rather than the old baseline of 200 kbps, and service providers must organize data based on the different speed tiers they offer. Also, companies must calculate broadband penetration by looking at census blocks, rather than the old way of looking at a zip code and counting it as conquered if broadband happened to be available for one household anywhere in that zip code. The FCC also said broadband speeds now have to be reported for both downloads and uploads.

For more about the FCC's changes:
- see this post at CNET News.com
- check out this survey commissioned by Tellabs that details broadband gaps

Related articles:
U.S. broadband growth slows Report
Broadband up in Europe Report

T-Mobile rolls out Internet calling plans

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:59:57 -0500

While T-Mobile is part of a group of operators embarking on a price war on the mobile voice side, the operator also upped the ante on its HotSpot@Home offering, rolling out Talk Forever Home Service in Seattle and Dallas for $10 per line per month for unlimited domestic calls. The router costs $49 and the service requires a broadband connection.

The new service runs on top of T-Mobile's existing HotSpot@Home offering, which enables converged WiFi and mobile-phone calling using one of four handset models that T-Mobile offers. Pricing was recently lowered for this service to $10 per month for unlimited domestic calling for up to four cell phones. Both HotSpot@Home and Talk Forever Home require a minimum $40 per month voice calling plan.

In an interview with Wi-Fi Net News, Joe Sims, vice president and general manager of T-Mobile's broadband products, said T-Mobile is looking to "address the remaining reasons people were reluctant to cut the cord."

To find out more about T-Mobile's new Talk Forever Home Service plan:
- read this piece from Wi-Fi Net News

Related articles:
T-Mobile may extend VoIP with Hotspot@Home Report
T-Mobile introduces unlimited calling over Wi-Fi Report

Clearwire officially launches PC card, $60 too high?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Clearwire announced the official launch of its first PC card. We reported in September that the operator quietly made available PC cards in its retail stores and online in almost all of its markets. Clearwire says the card is now available through all of its distribution channels in its markets across the U.S. The launch effectively increases Clearwire's target market. The PC card can be used in most laptops versus a modem's size and power requirement that limit mobility.

Service plans for the Clearwire PC card start at $60 a month with a PC card lease fee of $7 a month. Walter Piecyk at Pali Research noted his surprise that Clearwire has continued with the $60 per-month fee for use of its PC card since store checks indicate the price might be too high to create broadband demand, especially when Sprint and Leap Wireless are offering service for $50 and $40 per month, respectively.

For more about Clearwire's PC card:
- read this release
- take a look at the Pali Research blog (reg. req.)

TeliaSonera launches UMA in Sweden

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:59:53 -0400

TeliaSonera AB plans to launch its Home Free unlicensed mobile access (UMA) service, called Home Free, in Sweden at the end of September. One unique aspect of the offering is the fact that the service is not tied to TeliaSonera's own broadband service. TeliaSonera is offering Home Free to anyone with a broadband connection.

Current Analysis principal analyst Emma Mohr-McClune had a slightly positive spin on the service as it is unique and helps offset Telia's broadband churn, but the initial model is restricted in several significant ways, she said. Those are namely poor handset choice and pricing flexibility.

To read more about TeliaSonera's UMA offering:
- see this release
- take a look at this article from Light Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Study: More than half of U.S. adults have broadband

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:59:52 -0400

A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association says more than half of American households subscribe to a broadband service and 72 percent of adults in the U.S. have access to a broadband connection. Article

SPOTLIGHT: Juniper: HSPA to dominate until 2012

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:52 -0400

HSPA, not mobile WiMAX, will dominate mobile broadband network deployments during the next five years, according to forecasts from Juniper Research. The firm says HSPA will consistently account for approximately 70 percent of the total mobile broadband subscriber base until 2012. On a worldwide basis, about one in three mobile subscribers will use a mobile broadband connection by 2012, representing about 1 billion users. Demand will come from North America, Western Europe and to a lesser extent by the Far East and China, Juniper Research said.

However, Juniper Research cautions that these numbers depend on availability of suitable devices, ranging from handsets to other types of devices such as media players. Release