Vodafone is taking some very practical and tangible steps to address poor indoor coverage and the potential revenue opportunity.
Principal Analyst Andrew Parkin-White believes that Vodafone's femtocell trials ‘will help to resolve the technical issues associated with large scale femtocell deployment, and allow the operator to evaluate a number of commercial options for femtocells’.
Cisco has acquired an equity stake in UK-based femtocell specialist, ip.access, building on Cisco's recent investments in Linksys and set-top-box manufacturer Scientific Atlanta.
"This is an interesting move from Cisco, allowing it to leverage and integrate its IP networking capability into the wireless environment," says Parkin-White, co-author of the latest Analysys report 3G Network Evolution from 2007 to 2012: HSPA+, LTE, WiMAX and femtocells. In contrast to current wisdom, this report concludes that HSPA+ (combined with femtocells and a broadcasting network) has greater potential than LTE over the next five years.
"If there is a time to take a serious look at femtocells in the context of an overall evolving 3G architecture, that time is now," Parkin-White says.
In 2007, Analysys Research conducted extensive analysis into the potential market for femtocells, and found that they have the potential to become a disruptive technology in the mobile world.
"MNOs are finally considering how femtocells fit into their overall technical approach. Femtocells appear to offer the possibility of a lower-cost strategy for cellular network architecture and build.
Furthermore, they may offer the potential to unlock new sources of revenue, by allowing an operator to launch a range of innovative services for the business and consumer markets," says Parkin-White.
On the other hand, Parkin-White urges MNOs to ignore the hype and speculation, and take a balanced view of the potential of femtocell services in these markets.
"There is no guarantee of success without a carefully developed business plan that puts forward a practical and profitable approach to the deployment of femtocells," says Parkin-White.