Many mobile users in rural, suburban and urban locations experience problems using their mobile phone indoors due to poor coverage. As a result of this users can experience very low mobile service availability or no service at all. This problem is particularly acute for 3G mobile users but also greatly impacts 2G mobile users.
Poor coverage prevents a mobile user from making use of their mobile phone in a location important to them such as their home or office. Given that on average at least 30% of calls occur when at home, poor coverage in the home is a real issue for mobile operators.
The HSL 2.75G Femtocell enables operators to gain increased revenue per subscriber by increasing service availability for those 2G and 3G subscribers experiencing coverage quality issues. Unlike 3G-only femtocells, the HSL 2.75G Femtocell can provide service to all 2G and 3G mobile phones, enabling an operator’s whole subscriber base to be addressed and provided with high quality voice, messaging and fast EDGE data.
HSL’s managed service allows operators to outsource the deployment and operation of their femtocell network, while maintaining control of their network and service quality through clearly defined service levels. The financial expenditure of such outsourcing is significantly reduced when compared with other forms of femtocell network deployment, particularly when coupled with HSL’s approach to deployment. Operators can exercise a limited involvement in their femtocell network and outsource many aspects of the femtocell network to HSL.
Mark Hay, managing and technical director, commented on this service: “The managed service being launched today provides mobile network operators with a fast and very low cost route to launch their own femtocell network. HSL are well placed to not only build the femtocell infrastructure required but also to operate this managed service to deliver the best from our hardware for our mobile network customers and their subscribers.”
HSL is now engaging with mobile network operators around the world to discuss the managed service in detail.