The femtocell push has hit the US GSM ecosystem. Sprint’s Airave femtocell is already on market and ready to boost Sprint’s CDMA signal for customers with weak signal reception in their homes. Today, we are hearing that AT&T is looking to trial their own 3G GSM femtocell solution next year.
Femtocells are essentially miniaturized cellular base stations that broadcast wireless signals in homes with spotty cellular signal reception. Voice and data communications are relayed back and forth through the customer’s high-speed broadband internet connection. Wireless carriers look to femtocells to boost signal strength without having to build out expensive cellular towers.
And, following in Sprint’s footsteps, AT&T is preparing to introduce their own femtocell solution in limited trials next year. John Stankey, chief executive of AT&T‘s Operations division, says that AT&T’s GSM femtocell will one-up Sprint’s CDMA solution with its support for 3G voice and data communication. Support for 3G cellular communication may just bring femtocells into the mainstream, assuming AT&T’s trials pan out.
[Via: AP]