MWC: Vodafone Explores Femtos

Joining Sprint Nextel as one of the only operators embracing femto technology in a public way, Vodafone Group plc announced Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, that it is trialing 3G femtocells. The operator, the high-profile co-parent of Verizon Wireless, said it was exploring the use of the indoor cellular coverage technology for both home and business use.

In addition to extending the use of wireless beyond the outdoor WAN network, femto technology also can potentially generate greater cost efficiencies. The access points plug into a user´s wireline DSL or cable modem, utilizing that connection for backhaul to the core, which can potentially save cellular operators much in operational expenditure and create a more easily scalable way of expanding their coverage footprints.

Femto cells are likely to be a big topic in Barcelona. Leading up to the Congress, Cisco Systems Inc. was rumored to be exploring the technology, and analysts say more trials will be announced this week. Vendors are also showcasing their femto offerings. For its part, Vodafone is in trials with hardware from Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei.

“Vodafone has been driving industry development of femtocell technology, and the trials with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei are an opportunity for us to assess how much benefit it can bring to our customers,” said Andy MacLeod, Global Networks Director at Vodafone. “Femtocells have the potential to enhance customers’ 3G broadband experience, and the trials are critical to investigate whether the technology can deliver on its promise.”

Vodafone stressed that the trials are just that: trials. It has a history of testing multiple technologies before choosing a direction; its high-profile testing of WiMAX sparked a flurry of speculation before it officially named LTE as its 4G technology last fall.

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