[LINK] Femtocells

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

So, a 3G hotspot in your lounge room

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Optus begins femtocell trial 

By Stephen Withers Monday, 11 April 2011 11:33 
<www.itwire.com/your-it-news/mobility/46454-optus-begins-femtocell-trial>


Optus has begun the first commercial femtocell pilot in Australia. 

A femtocell can be regarded as a private 3G base station linked to the 
network via the customer's broadband connection.

One way of overcoming poor or nonexistent 3G reception in a home or 
office is to install a femtocell, Connected via a fixed broadband 
service, the femtocell provides a strong signal within a few tens of 
metres.

Such devices are in common use in some other countries, but Optus has 
begun what it claims is the first commercial pilot of femtocells in 
Australia. Dubbed the 3G Home Zone, Optus' femtocell is initially only 
available in selected areas of Sydney, Wollongong, Central Coast, 
Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. No indication was given of 
when it might be offered in other places.

The company claims it provides five bars of signal to mobile devices 
within 30 metres of the Home Zone. 

Only devices with Optus 3G SIMs can connect to the Home Zone, and Optus 
officials say up to four devices can be used simultaneously.

Calls or data sessions begun via the Home Zone will handover to available 
coverage if you move out of range of the Home Zone, but the reverse does 
not occur.

Possible drawbacks are that a maximum of 12 devices (phones, tablets and 
wireless broadband modems) can be registered at a time with the Home 
Zone, and it uses approximately 1GB 350MB [new information from Optus - 
12/4/11] of data per month before any calls or data sessions are made. 

This broadband data usage comes out of your monthly quota even if you are 
an Optus broadband customer.

Furthermore, 3G calls and data usage are billed or metered as usual even 
though they go through the Home Zone, so there is an element of 'double 
dipping' where an Optus fixed broadband connection is used.

Use of a Home Zone is not restricted to Optus broadband customers - it 
simply requires a minimum download speed of 1Mbps and a minimum upload 
speed of 256Kbps. Many Optus plans are throttled to 256/256 or 128/128 
once the quota is exceeded, and the Home Zone stops functioning if the 
speed in either direction drops below 128Kbps.

"Australia’s first commercial femtocell pilot will provide valuable 
feedback from our customers on the multiple benefits of this technology," 
said Optus' consumer marketing director Gavin Williams. 

"We believe femtocells are an important way of enhancing the customer 
experience of the Optus Open Network by acting as a wireless gateway into 
the home or office," he added.

The price of the Home Zone depends on the customer's mobile plan. For 
prepaid customers, it costs $240.

The price is $180 with a $29 plan, $120 on $49/$59/$69 plans, and $60 on 
a $79 plan. Non-prepaid customers can spread the price over 12 equal 
monthly payments.

A femtocell trial involving Optus' enterprise customers is also underway.

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Cheers,
Stephen