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| Femtocell Competitive Resources Home |
SummaryIn July, Avren Events held their first “International Conference on Home Access Points and Femtocells.” While femtocells were the talk of 3GSM, this was still a very, very, very early point in the history of the market: products were still in development, partnerships were being formed, and business models were little more than theory. As such, the company’s “2nd International Conference on Home Access Points and Femtocells” was anticipated as an opportunity to judge and gain insights from a (slightly) more mature market, insights that can only come with time. As with the earlier femtocell conference (in London), Current Analysis was at this latest edition (in Dallas) in order to both provide our insights (what’s going right, what’s going wrong, how femtocell business models will differ across countries) while attempting to gauge the state of the market. And, as with the London event, the key issues facing the nascent femtocell market were still unsettled in Dallas: business models, diverse network integration issues, 2G vs. 3G vs. 4G, operator demands, realistic cost assumptions, etc. Yet, as much as it might seem like the industry was at a standstill since July, it was equally true that some important changes have taken place. The Femto Forum was several months older and backed by a much larger – more credible – member base. Operators had begun talking about their trial plans. Sprint launched commercial services in two markets. To provide a view into what conclusions might be drawn from the conference, a podcast follows, along with a copy of our own speaker presentation to the conference.
Click here to download/play the Podcast. (9MB MP3)
Click here to download/view the presentation. (400KB PDF) Recommended User Actions• Operators must be prepared to encounter early femtocell costs that exceed their hopes, and the initial hopes of optimistic vendors and analysts. In the early days of any market, limited scale always conspires against inexpensive products. Yet, because users may be content to install a femtocell and leave it in place for a while, ultra-cheap pricing may not be a necessity; the costs of the femto can be amortized over several years. • Operators looking to launch femtocells should not initially specify, or plan to launch, complex, feature-packed products. To be sure, any successful femtocell service will assume solid support for features such as interference mitigation, security, handoffs, zero-touch install, etc. However, beyond these basics, complex functionality will only drive up costs, introduce complexity into the launch (setting the stage for launch problems) and make it difficult to examine the value of femtocells to users…none of which is welcome when first trying to introduce a new technology. • Operators need to weigh the value of 2G vs. 3G femtocells based on their own service strategy and market conditions. Despite the greater availability of 2G devices in the market, 3G femtocells may be valuable for operators who want to drive 3G adoption or patch-up weak coverage. • Multi-national operators looking seriously at femtocells need to align their national branches on one, common femtocell integration strategy. Some have suggested that a multi-national operator may need to support multiple integration methods in order to accommodate regional or national assets. Such a strategy can only weigh against product scale and network management efficiencies.
CLIENTS ONLY Recommended Vendor Actions | Client Access - Wireless Infrastructure | This Competitive Intelligence Highlight is an excerpt from longer, more detailed reports available to subscription clients. Click here for more information.
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