Alcatel's new product unveiled at ICT Expo

The AlcatelLucent Base Station Router Femto (BSR Femto), the latest product, developed from Bell Labs, is cellular access point that connects to a mobile operator's network core using a customer's existing residential DSL or cable broadband connection. They are in effect 'personal base stations', and can be manufactured to operate on any current wireless network air interface, for example CDMA or GSM/WCDMA. The femto generally uses current home WiFi routers as a formfactor model so they are approximately the size of a slim paperback book.  

 Femtocells are intended to provide inhome cell phone coverage, particularly in areas where the usual 'macro cell' system provides poor or degraded service indoors, or indeed where there is limited or no macro network coverage at all. In some builtup areas, getting a cell phone signal indoors in an apartment block can be difficult or sometimes impossible, and in some areas, there may be no cell phone coverage at all. By installing a femtocell inside a customer's premises (such as their house or apartment), 'five bars' of signal strength can be provided to CDMA or GSM/WCDMA cell phones, allowing users to enjoy all the wireless subscriber services.

 "The broadband access market is still rising significantly and the ARPU generated by fixed subscribers is nearly double that of mobile subscribers. By providing bundled offers with ISPs, mobile operators can benefit from the trend of Fixed Mobile Convergence and thereby increase their ARPU significantly. The AlcatelLucent Base Station Router Femto (BSRFemto) helps the network operators deliver new applications to the home user, improve inhome wCDMA coverage and compete with fixed line broadband services while reducing operating costs.," said Vincent Duda, managing director of AlcatelLucent (Thailand).

- The Nation