Sprint and Verizon Wireless are apparently set to focus more attention on femtocells in the near future, with the availability of 3G products a key driver. According to reports, Sprint has just made available its first 3G device, manufactured by Airvana, while Light Reading Mobile noted a Verizon Wireless job posting which indicates the operator is looking for a product manager for its in-building offerings, with 3G femtocells deemed a “key project.” The main advantages of 3G femtocells is their ability to provide improved in-building coverage for data services, as well as voice. According to a recent survey by Dell’Oro Group, while 1 million femtocells will ship during 2011, this will grow to 62 million in 2014, with less than 20 percent of these being CDMA-family units.
It was noted that Sprint is offering its EV-DO femtocells free-of-charge to customers with reception issues in their homes, compared with many other operators worldwide which are charging for femtocells – Sprint also charges for its 2G femtocell devices. Although calls and data connections are routed through a user’s home DSL connection, Sprint will take traffic into account as part of its monthly voice and data allowance limits. Verizon is, in contrast, looking initially to target enterprise users, with femtocells having the potential to form part of a fixed-mobile convergence solution. AT&T already offers a 3G femtocell solution for its WCDMA network.