Infonetics Research: HSPA expected to drive femtocell market; operators taking cautious approach

High speed packet access (HSPA) is shaping up to be the key driver behind future femtocell adoption, says a new report from analyst firm Infonetics Research , Femtocell Equipment Market Size and Forecasts .

Once users are hooked on high speed mobile data services, the report contends, subscribing to a femtocell service could follow to ensure coverage and capacity consistency for services delivered to the home or office.

"When HSPA becomes more widely available, mobile broadband adoption, which has been unabated in recent years, will get an extra push. Femtocells, in turn, should see an uptick in adoption, as they provide consistent indoor wireless coverage and give mobile operators a stronger positioning in the home broadband network. Once launched, femtocells offered with home-zone tariffs could be seen as a 'recession-buster' deal for consumers seeking to reduce mobile voice call charges, and the early market could see decent growth, despite the prevailing economic climate," said Richard Webb , directing analyst for WiMAX and mobile devices at Infonetics Research.

Other highlights from the report:

--  Despite being a commercially available technology with numerous
    products on the market, mobile operators continue to adopt a cautious
    approach to femtocells due to the technology and business model challenges
    yet to be overcome
--  Major strides forward have been made in 2008 for a femtocell standard,
    with the industry achieving consensus -- driven by the Femto Forum --
    regarding the Iu-h interface between the femtocell and the femtocell
    gateway/mobile core network
--  2009 is expected to be the first year of significant traction for the
    femtocell and femtocell gateway markets
--  UMA, once thought to be competitive with femtocells, is likely to be a
    driver for femtocell adoption, with mobile operators expected to offer dual
    mode FMC services with cheap/free voice calls and enhanced 3G coverage via
    UMA-based femtocells

Infonetics' report provides market size, forecasts, and analysis of the worldwide and regional femtocell equipment market, including 2G femtocells (GSM/GPRS and CDMA), 3G femtocells (W-CDMA/HSPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO), femtocell gateways, and mobile subscribers (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, W-CDMA/HSPA, CDMAone, CDMA2000/EV-DO/EV-DV).

View report highlights and more from Infonetics' online portal (log in at www.infonetics.com; see Wireless and FMC). For sales, contact Larry Howard, vice president, at larry@infonetics.com or 1 (408) 583-3335.

Infonetics Research ( www.infonetics.com ) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete more effectively.

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Press Contact: Richard Webb Directing Analyst, WiMAX, WiFi, and Mobile Devices Infonetics Research 1 (408) 583-3369 44 (0) 1689-851-618 Email Contact