Airvana receives many inquiries about Femtocells. Here are answers to some of the most frequently-asked questions.
What is a femtocell and how does it work?
What advantages are there for the user in installing a femtocell?
When will Airvana’s femtocells be available?
Where can I purchase a HubBub femtocell?
How much will they cost?
Will femtocells work with my wireless service provider?
Are femtocells safe?
Will it work in my office?
Will it work with the satellite/microwave internet connection in my home/boat?
Can I be a beta tester?
Where can I find out more?
What is a femtocell and how does it work?
A femtocell is like a Wi-Fi access point, but specially designed for cell phones; it uses a low-power integrated antenna to transmit voice and data cellular signals within a home or small office. It connects to your mobile operator's network through your broadband Internet connection.
What advantages are there for the user in installing a femtocell?
Femtocells provide better coverage inside the home, which equates to a stronger signal and improved voice quality. Data applications on smart phones (like your mobile email device) work faster. Further, service providers may offer “home zone” calling plans featuring attractive rates for calls made from home via the femtocell.
When will Airvana’s femtocells be available?
Airvana will start delivering its HubBub™ CDMA and UMTS femtocell products to service providers in the second half of 2008. We expect them to be commercially available to consumers starting in late 2008 or early 2009.
Where can I purchase a HubBub femtocell?
You will be able to purchase a femtocell at the same retail outlets where you purchase mobile phones from service providers.
How much will they cost?
Femtocells are initially expected to cost in the low hundreds of dollars. Service providers may chose to offer them at a lower price as part of a broader service offering. Over time, the price of femtocells is expected to decline as volumes increase.
Will femtocells work with my wireless service provider?
Airvana is building femtocells products for both leading global mobile communication standards: CDMA2000 and UMTS.
CDMA2000 is used by service providers such as Verizon Wireless (US), Sprint (US), Bell Mobility (Canada), KDDI (Japan), Reliance (India), Vivo (Brazil), Alltel (US) and several others. A complete list of CDMA operators can be found at http://www.cdg.org/
UMTS is used by service providers such AT&T (US), Vodafone (14+ countries), T-Mobile (6+ countries), Orange (5+ countries), Telecom Italia Mobile (5+ countries), Telmex (2+ countries), NTT DoCoMo (Japan), Airtel (India) and several others. A complete list of UMTS operators can be found at http://hspa.gsmworld.com/networks/default.asp
Are femtocells safe?
Femtocells emit very low levels of radio waves when being used. Femtocells must comply with the same safety limits that are applied to other wireless devices such as Wi-Fi routers, mobile phones, and baby monitors. For further information, refer to the publication "Femtocells and Health" published by the Femto Forum. Visit http://www.femtoforum.org/
Will it work in my office?
Yes, femtocells are designed to work in both homes and small offices. All that they require is high-speed broadband connection.
Will it work with the satellite/microwave internet connection in my home/boat?
Airvana’s femtocells products are designed to work over satellite or microwave links, assuming these links have sufficient bandwidth to transport the voice or data being used. These types of connections are sometimes subject to delays, and in such cases the femtocell communication would exhibit the same delays.
Can I be a beta tester?
Airvana does not offer a beta test program. We do expect our service provider customers to launch trials in select geographical areas in the near future.
Where can I find out more?
Information on Airvana’s HubBub femtocells can be found here. For information on the femtocell industry in general, visit the web site of the Femto Forum at http://www.femtoforum.org/
