$100 femtocells to be sold by AT&T?

Yep, we're mandating that this one be filed in the rumor folder for now, but according to a report from ThinkPanmure, AT&T Mobility is planning to move up to 7 million femtocells acquired from UK-based ip.access. As the story goes, AT&T inked a contract with the aforesaid firm for up to half a billion dollars in femtocells over five years, and it's supposedly aiming to sell each to end users for "as little as $100." As expected, spokespeople for AT&T and ip.access weren't around / didn't care to comment on the matter, but a dame from the former did admit that it was "examining the potential benefits of femtocells through lab tests and planned to conduct a trial later this year." Of course, AT&T wouldn't be the first US carrier to offer the boxes, but it's not like Sprint's $49.99 Airave set any sales records or anything when it launched late last year.

[mcheddadi @ Apr 25th 2008 1:18AM]

femtowhat?!

[Neoprimal @ Apr 25th 2008 1:20AM]

cell..

[OneLove @ Apr 25th 2008 1:43PM]

Are those like femtobots?

[Eric @ Apr 25th 2008 2:01AM]

I'm gonna take a few seconds to congratulate myself on calling this one a few months back.....Good job me, thats a first.

[PhotoDad @ Apr 25th 2008 2:01AM]

I thought Sprint never got past test market selling of this product? Sure looks like an identical Samsung product.
http://www.sprintenterprise.com/airave/tellMeMore.html

Femtocell's basically equal a private mini short range cell tower that hooks up to your broadband.

[tetronic @ Apr 25th 2008 2:04AM]

So UMA (like Tmobile's) will be related to this right? Too T-mobile's UMA devices aren't exactly what I care for.

[paul34 @ Apr 25th 2008 3:37AM]

No, T-Mobile's UMA runs through Wi-Fi, which requires a handset specifically supporting that feature. It is better since the infrastructure is already there, but it is obvious handset makers aren't too keen on integrating that feature into their handsets.

This, on the other hand, doesn't require any changes on the user's end - any network-compatible phone will work - it only changes it on the "carrier" end by basically bringing a tiny, low-power cell into your house or office.

It is the better solution at the end of the day. So many people are so ignorant of the crappy wireless routers they buy from Best Buy and Circuit City that it would be easier to service contracted, mass-produced, and carrier-issued units (like cable modems from the cable company).

[Sam Zebian @ Apr 25th 2008 2:22AM]

is this basically a cell phone repeater/signal booster?? Because I just bought a dual-band for my AT&T service from amazon, and it doesn't work very well..

[Earl Jr. @ Apr 25th 2008 3:21PM]

Not necessarily. Instead of amplifying the signal, this box acts as a vastly scaled down cell tower. It's designed to connect to the rest of the network via cable/dsl.

[Michael @ Apr 25th 2008 2:35AM]

The Sprint Airave serves up CDMA signals, if this product allegedly available from AT&T works in a similar way, it will provide a GSM signal when connected to your broadband modem.

It is not a repeater box, it creates its own signal for your cell phone to connect to. Would be a more attractive alternative to VoIP if you use your cell phone a lot already but don't have a great signal at home.

Heck, even if you do have a good signal, wait and see if AT&T lets you do some sort of "unlimited when connected to femtocell" plan, that might be a pretty good deal!

[Cash @ Apr 25th 2008 3:22AM]

If they do release this, I would be one happy camper. I live in an older residential area that gets horrible coverage because no one wants to allow a new tower be installed nearby. If this works as well as advertised, I could finally drop my landline for good.

[thu @ Apr 25th 2008 3:33AM]

please, i earn money ...........????

[BowserUSC @ Apr 25th 2008 4:08AM]

After figuring out what this actual is I think I'd pay 100 bucks for this thing.

[rony @ Apr 25th 2008 4:31AM]

thnx PHOTODAD for clearing that up....i thought femtocell was some sort of artificial insemination process...

[Erwos @ Apr 25th 2008 6:03AM]

The Airave didn't set sales records because it _never launched nationally_. It's supposed to do so later this year.

[Paul @ Apr 25th 2008 9:28PM]

So the idea of a femtocell is to provide you your own little cell-tower in your home.

Make sure you follow what this means. AT+T are providing you a cellular service that you are unable to use because of coverage or capacity.

So instead of upgrading their network, they provide you a mini-cell tower that uses YOUR BROADBAND CONNECTION to provide the transport for the calls. So you are paying AT+T for the service, yet your internet provider is handling the traffic - so you are paying twice.

And then they charge you for the unit that allows them to not provide the service you are paying for.

1) The unit should be free, not "just $100"
2) You should get a subsidy on your cell service rental for any calls made via the femto

Take a stand now before this goes too far.

[BowserUSC @ Apr 25th 2008 11:23PM]

I think you're wrong about this. One big problem with reception is people don't get it in certain buildings because of the building materials. There isn't much a cell company can do about that. They're not going to vastly increase the power output just in case someone may have too many layers of lead paint on their walls.

Also, the similar service t-mobile is experimenting with doesn't charge you for the calls you make through it, maybe ATT&T would do the same.

[Paul @ Apr 25th 2008 11:48PM]

I can imagine that it is valid in many cases that it is unreasonable to expect reception.

However, it is naive to think that this won't become a generalised solution for any capacity or penetration issues regardless of the underlying reason.

Not only do they get a new revenue stream for the units, but the more of these that are out there, the less pressure on their infrastructure, and their costs are lowered while their revenue increases. While there is nothing wrong with finding creative ways to manage the traffic they must carry, but charging the customer for something that actually saves them money?!

AT+T are not above putting revenue before service.