RSSVerizon Wireless femtocell launches yesterday, AT&T plays catch-up
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published January 26, 2009, 12:01 PM
Right on schedule, the nation's largest carrier is rolling out the first deployment of cellular signal-boosting femtocell equipment on private premises, using high-speed Internet as the backbone.
In perhaps one of its more radical experiments -- at least for Verizon Wireless -- the carrier is offering its Wireless Network Extender device for a lump-sum payment of $250. It's not a service, you don't subscribe to it, but you also don't need Verizon's wireless Internet service to use it either.
The benefits, the carrier promises, are plainly stated: The femtocell device boosts signal quality for VZW cellular service over a 5,000 square foot area centered around the device, by transmitting a signal piped through over the Internet throughout that area. The Extender does not reduce VZW subscribers' bill.
The question for now is, how many extra subscribers will this help VZW service? Common sense thinking might tell you that if someone's having trouble getting cellular service, she's in a location where the Internet isn't that much more accessible, either. Since the device is portable, theoretically, a subscriber could use an EV-DO or 3G card on his laptop in conjunction with the Extender, to boost his VZW signal strength anywhere in the world where he can't turn around and see 3,000 or so folks from "The Network" standing behind him. But that assumes the signal strength on that 3G connection is clear to begin with -- specifically, he needs 40 Kbps per caller (according to the Samsung user manual for the device itself -- PDF available here), with a maximum of three callers. If the signal is that clear to begin with, then why use the Extender?
As it turns out, charter customers for this device could be comprised in large part of workers in congested rural areas -- not out in the boondocks -- where the architecture of the city gets in the way, or who work underground. If a wired Internet connection can be piped down there, then you can at least build breathing room to operate your cell phone and still pace the floor.
VZW's device contains a built-in GPS to help identify network subscribers, and also to share location data with emergency officials for 911 calls.
Not to let itself look like an also-ran for too long, #2 carrier AT&T this morning revealed a picture of its forthcoming MicroCell device, co-branded with its network partner, Cisco. Its page does make it appear as though the device is available now, though hyperlinks that would take the customer to further information currently lead nowhere, with one exception: an FAQ which states its device requires a wired Internet connection capable of sustaining 3G bandwidths (so much for the boondocks angle).
The Cisco device will service up to four users within a 5,000 square-foot area. So far, pricing and availability are unknown.
This article is filled with inaccuracies:
1. Plenty of subscribers with access to broadband internet get poor cell reception in their homes, especially in big cities.
2. This device has a GPS chip expressly so that you cannot use it abroad or out of Verizon's typically coverage area, enhanced 911 is still covered through the phone device itself.
3. The device requires a wired Ethernet connection so this idea of using another carriers EV-DO/3G broadband via of laptop is out.
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|i work @ a school made out of cinderblocks and it's a giant dead zone. i'd love to add a handful of these to our network next year, especially for only $250 a pop. that's about the cost of one wireless AP.
also, Scott is still an idiot. he proves it with every article. If this works as promised, this has a very promising future in all kinds of businesses from schools to sky scrapers to warehouses and factories.
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|"Common sense thinking might tell you that if someone's having trouble getting cellular service, she's in a location where the Internet isn't that much more accessible, either."
OR...if you thought about it for a moment, common sense *might* tell you that this is intended to help in the industrial areas, where the signals are weakened due to interference or structures and internet connectivity is usually readily available. OR, you might come up with something similar, like that which BAlGaInTl suggested...
But no, let's assume, right off the bat, that Verizon is absolutely clueless and making a product no-one will ever be able to use...
*laughing*
Top notch stuff today, Scott.
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|"Common sense thinking might tell you that if someone's having trouble getting cellular service, she's in a location where the Internet isn't that much more accessible, either."
??
I wouldn't think that is common sense at all. I'm in a neighborhood that has excellent broadband options. However, because of building restrictions, there isn't a cell tower really close. We only get a couple of bars (more if you stand by a window), and if you try to walk through the house while on a call, it is likely to drop.
It has been this way in several of the past locations that we have lived in.
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