Have you seen the latest eBook technology which allows you to store and view many books on a remarkably easy to read display? The Amazon Kindle specifically includes a cellular 3G service which runs on Sprint's network, allowing you to choose and download an eBook almost anywhere in the US. Would eBook users benefit from having a femtocell at home?
As a disruptive new technology, femtocells have to gain the support of several different groups before they get the green light for adoption and commercial rollout by a network operator. I believe there are four specific groups who must approve. In order for femtocells to succeed, then "all the ducks must be in a row" first.
I've read several articles recently articulating that mobile broadband networks are quickly filling up with traffic and thus affecting the end-user experience. The dramatic reduction in pricing (1000 times cheaper), wide availability of USB data dongles and 3G service means that mobile broadband is moving from an occasional outdoor/on-the-road access to being marketed as a direct competitor for DSL wireline broadband at similar or even lower prices.
There are concerns that the networks aren't geared up to take the strain (particularly of streaming video) and are actively looking at alternative ways to satisfy their customer demands. One example is where the Apple iTune downloads to their iPhone are restricted to WiFi rather than over the mobile broadband network.
Its not just broadband data load that's clogging up mobile networks.
It's easy to concentrate on the headline figures of peak data rates and
total data volumes when measuring the tremendous growth in mobile
broadband network capacity. One of the other issues which is consuming
resources relates to short bursts of traffic used to check status. Some
applications are particularly "chatty", pinging a central server
frequently to check for updates. On today's wired IP networks, this may
not have much effect - each individual packet is treated much like the
next. However, on a wireless network this can involve bringing up the
radio transport session from dormant to active state, arranging for a
suitable timeslot to send/receive the traffic with all the associated
processing and management.
The thirst for mobile data has never been stronger. Data revenues from several operators now exceed $10Bn annually and continue to grow. The adoption of mobile broadband has been rapid, particularly in Europe, where prices have been driven down to $20-30/month or less.
Indeed, a survey by the WiFi alliance found that 48% of students would give up beer rather than WiFi.
Data will grow by 200 to 700 times in the next 10 years
A significant number of users continue to report poor mobile coverage in their homes. There will always be areas which are uneconomic for mobile operator to reach. They range from rural areas
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The term Enterprise addresses any non-residential in-building including hotels, convention centres, transport hubs, offices, hospitals and retail outlets. It's not just intended for businesses to
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Urban small cells (sometimes also named metrocells) are compact and discrete mobile phone basestations, unobstrusively located in urban areas. They can be mounted on lampposts, positioned on the
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A rural small cell is a low power mobile phone base station designed to bring mobile phone service to small pockets of population in remote rural areas. These could be hamlets, small villages or
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