UK Gets Europe's First 3G Femtocell 114
Posted
by
kdawson
from the atto-boy dept.
from the atto-boy dept.
judgecorp writes "Femtocells have been on the horizon for a while, but the UK just got the first 3G femtocell launch in Europe, by Vodafone. The device connects to handsets in the room and links them to the cellular network over broadband. It's a classic win-win, because it gives the user better coverage and takes traffic off the service provider's network. The only complaint might be from the broadband provider, who could be carrying traffic for a rival. Vodafone isn't pushing the data angle, but since it has HSPA, the product could work just fine with laptops and dongles. Femtos have been in limbo waiting for serious launches, but judging from the list of speakers at the World Femtocell Summit in London, Vodafone might not be the only one."
What about wifi? (Score:5, Interesting)
What stops you from doing the exact same thing using wifi? You connect your phone through wifi to a VoIP gateway that will route the call to any phone number you want to call. You just need a VoIP client installed on your handset. If you have a open handset, for example an Android one, that's easy and you can use this today within any wifi network you have access to.
Re:I love it! (Score:5, Interesting)
It's just another slashvertisement.
Chodeaphone sucks. their coverage sucks in particular, which is why they're pushing this.
I'm just waiting for someone to figure out how to hijack what is essentially a wireless connection to someone's broadband...
Re:Uh no.... (Score:5, Interesting)
I would agree with you entirely, were it not for the fact that Voda appear to be locking this box down to certain handsets.
However, I agree entirely - why should I pay an additional monthly fee to Voda just so I can use their service from my house when I can walk fifty yards down the street and not have to pay? Further, not only am I paying Voda for the privilege of saving them money, but I then have to fork out for additional bandwidth on my home broadband.
All that having been said, one of only two reasons my company has an office is for mobile coverage. If I can get coverage at home (and those of my staff), there's no reason not to move to home working any more. The additional cost of the cells would still result in a saving if we don't have to pay for the offices.
Ho hum.
Nick.
Already been done (Score:4, Interesting)
My Orange Nokia 6301 supposedly does this in the UK.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_Access_Network [wikipedia.org]
The 3G network "3" also claims to use Skype automatically to reduce call costs.
Re:Great for us travellers! (Score:1, Interesting)
Good luck with the FCC in the US when you light up a European-band GSM base station here. These are licensed bands and you cannot just run around using them without the approval of the licensee.