Femtocells and Fixed-Mobile Convergence

Berg Insight AB, August 2009, Pages: 87

Berg Insight forecasts 70 million users of femtocells worldwide by 2014

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, femtocell shipments will grow from 0.2 million units in 2009 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 127 percent to 12 million units worldwide in 2014. Femtocells are small cellular base stations using broadband connections for backhaul, intended to extend coverage and offload the mobile macro network in home and small office environments. The European, North American and advanced markets in Asia Pacific will account for the vast majority of femtocell shipments in the foreseeable future. In many other countries worldwide, the penetration of fixed broadband connections is much lower and 3G services less developed. By 2014, there will be almost six femtocells per macro base station and the number of users that connect to a femtocell on a regular basis is estimated to surpass 70 million. Berg Insight predicts that femtocells will mainly serve as an extension of mobile macro networks to improve indoor coverage. The scope for femtocells to expand network capacity is, however, initially rather limited because better alternatives already exist. Data traffic has surged lately, pushing many mobile networks to their capacity limit. Nevertheless, an overwhelming majority of the traffic is generated by PC and to some extent also by smartphone users who are on-the-move, or in most cases have substituted their fixed broadband connection with mobile broadband. Consequently, these users are unable to offload their data to the fixed network. “Virtually all PCs and most smartphones are already Wi-Fi enabled and are thus able to leverage the large installed base of Wi-

Fi access points available in homes, offices and public buildings”, says Marcus Persson, telecom analyst, Berg Insight. For the moment, many people are not willing to install yet another box in their homes unless it can add significant value beyond what Wi-Fi already brings today. The femtocell concept is still at an early stage with few commercial deployments. It will take several years before shipments of femtocells become substantial. To begin with, the industry needs to prove that femtocells can be deployed without causing adverse interference. Femtocells also need to become sufficiently standardised to ensure efficient integration and low cost per unit. More importantly, “operators need to find and adjust business models that make femtocells attractive for their customers, who will ultimately buy or receive femtocells for placement at their premises”, Persson concludes.

Femtocells and Fixed-Mobile Convergence is a comprehensive report from Berg Insight analysing the emerging worldwide market for femtocells.

This strategic research report in the NGT Research Series from Berg Insight provides you with 90 pages of unique business intelligence, including 5-year industry forecasts and expert commentary on which to base your business decisions.This report will allow you to:

- Understand the opportunities and challenges for fixed-mobile convergence services.
- Comprehend how femtocell technologies affect mobile networks.
- Identify key players on the global femtocell market.
- Predict future business models for femtocell services.
- Anticipate the timing of mass-market introduction of femtocell devices and services.
- Profit from valuable insights from the most successful offerings on the market.

This report answers the following questions:

What is the current status of the femtocell market?
How will femtocell and fixed-mobile convergence services evolve in the future?
What are the femtocell strategies of the leading mobile operators?
Which companies are active in this market?
How will femtocell technologies evolve in the future?
Which operators have introduced femtocell services?
How will North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific compare in terms of femtocell deployments?

Who should buy this report?

Femtocells and Fixed-Mobile Convergence is the foremost source of information about this market. Whether you are a telecom vendor, mobile operator, investor, consultant or government agency, you will gain valuable insights from our in-depth research.

Executive summary
1 Fixed-mobile convergence
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Communication services worldwide
1.1.2 FMC and FMS market trends
1.2 Communication network technology evolution
1.2.1 Wireless technologies
1.2.2 Fixed-line broadband technologies
1.3 Fixed-mobile convergence service approaches
1.3.1 Home zone services
1.3.2 UMA services
1.3.3 Femtocells
1.4 Femtocell challenges
1.4.1 Core network integration
1.4.2 Femtocell interference issues
1.4.3 Femtocell business models
2 Femtocell technology
2.1 Mobile network architecture
2.1.1 Microcells
2.1.2 Picocells
2.1.3 Femtocells
2.2 Femtocell system architectures
2.2.1 UMTS based architecture
2.2.2 IMS based architecture
2.2.3 UMA/GAN fixed mobile convergence
2.3 Standardisation
2.3.1 3GPP
2.3.2 Other standardisation bodies and organisations
2.4 Regulations
3 Femtocell deployments
3.1 Femtocells from an operator perspective
3.1.1 The femtocell business case for mobile operators
3.1.2 Operator strategies
3.2 Femtocells from a consumer perspective
3.2.1 Benefits for the consumer
3.2.2 Femtocell health aspects
3.3 Early trials and commercial offerings
3.3.1 AT&T
3.3.2 BT
3.3.3 NTT DoCoMo
3.3.4 Orange
3.3.5 Softbank
3.3.6 Sprint
3.3.7 StarHub
3.3.8 T-Mobile
3.3.9 Telecom Italia
3.3.10 Telefonica O2
3.3.11 Telekom Austria
3.3.12 TeliaSonera
3.3.13 Verizon Wireless
3.3.14 Vodafone
4 Vendor profiles
4.1 The femtocell value chain
4.2 Femtocell chipset vendors
4.2.1 Percello
4.2.2 picoChip
4.2.3 Qualcomm
4.2.4 Texas Instruments
4.3 Femtocell access point vendors
4.3.1 Airvana
4.3.2 AirWalk Communications
4.3.3 Hay Systems
4.3.4 ip.access
4.3.5 Ubiquisys
4.4 FMC residential gateway vendors
4.4.1 2Wire
4.4.2 Netgear
4.4.3 Pirelli Broadband Solutions
4.4.4 Sagem Communications
4.4.5 Thomson
4.5 Network gateway vendors and system integrators
4.5.1 Alcatel-Lucent
4.5.2 Ericsson
4.5.3 Huawei
4.5.4 Kineto Wireless
4.5.5 Motorola
4.5.6 NEC
4.5.7 Nokia Siemens Networks
4.5.8 Samsung
4.5.9 Tatara Systems
4.5.10 ZTE
5 Market forecasts and trends
5.1 Femtocell market trends
5.1.1 Moving from trials to commercial deployments
5.1.2 The role of femtocells
5.1.3 The femtocell value chain
5.2 Femtocell market forecasts
5.2.1 Femtocells and FMC in APAC
5.2.2 Femtocells and FMC in Europe
5.2.3 Femtocells and FMC in North America
5.2.4 Femtocell shipments worldwide
5.3 Concluding remarks
Glossary
Index

List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Mobile subscribers by region (Worldwide Q4-2008)
Figure 1.2: Fixed line broadband connections by region (Worldwide Q4-2008)
Figure 1.3: Voice traffic (Worldwide 2000–2008)
Figure 1.4: Wireless subscribers by standard (Worldwide Q4-2008)
Figure 1.5: Theoretical peak data rates by wireless technology
Figure 1.6: Theoretical peak data rates by fixed-line technology
Figure 1.7: UMA and SIP over Wi-Fi FMC operators
Figure 2.1: Examples of picocell and femtocell access points
Figure 2.2: UMTS network architecture
Figure 2.3: Iu-over-IP based architecture
Figure 2.4: IMS based architecture
Figure 2.5: 3GPP releases (2000-2009)
Figure 3.1: Mobile data traffic in Swedish cellular networks (Sweden 2004–2008)
Figure 4.1: Main femtocell solutions by vendor (August 2009)
Figure 4.2: Overview of femtocell access point vendors (August 2009)
Figure 4.3: Femtocell solution vendor ownerships (August 2009)
Figure 5.1: Comparison of main telecom indicators (Q4-2008)
Figure 5.2: Main telecom indicators in Asia Pacific (2008-2014)
Figure 5.3: Main telecom indicators in EU27+2 (2008-2014)
Figure 5.4: Main telecom indicators in North America (2008-2014)
Figure 5.5: Commercial femtocell shipments by region (2008-2014)
Figure 5.6: Commercial femtocell shipments by air interface (Worldwide 2008-2014)
Figure 5.7: Worldwide femtocell shipments by device type (2008-2014)
Figure 5.8: Femtocell ASP and device revenues (2009-2014)

Femtocells are small cellular base stations intended to extend service coverage and offload the mobile macro network in home and small office environments. Femtocells are selfinstalling, plug-and-play devices deployed by users similar to Wi-Fi access points and use IP broadband connections for backhaul. The femtocell concept can be applied to any cellular technology, but the industry is currently focusing on 3G UMTS and CDMA devices.

Fixed-mobile convergence solutions such as femtocells and Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) leverage the fact that many locations, including homes, offices and public areas have access networks in the form of Wi-Fi, DSL and cable. UMA provides complementary access to existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE services over Wi-Fi.

The UMA technology allows users to roam and handover between cellular networks and Wi-Fi networks using dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi handsets with an UMA client. However, in contrast to UMA services, which require compatible dual-mode handsets, femtocells can be used with any device that supports the femtocell’s air interface.

A number of different architectural approaches have been proposed for integration of femtocells into macro networks with the main ones being – Iub-over-IP, Iu-over-IP, IMS and UMA/GAN based architectures. The 3GPP has chosen the Iu-over-IP approach, defined as Iuh, which is part of the 3G femtocell standardisation in its release 8. The approach builds upon utilizing existing UMTS network infrastructure that simplifies integration. However, in a long-term perspective, introduction of an IMS based architecture that completely offloads the macro network will be better suited to provide additional capacity as well as function as a platform for delivery of advanced services.

The femtocell concept is still at an early stage with few commercial deployments. It will take several years before shipments of femtocells become substantial. To begin with, the industry needs to prove that femtocells can be deployed without causing adverse interference.

Femtocells also need to become sufficiently standardised to ensure efficient integration and low cost per unit. Moreover, operators need to find and adjust business models that make femtocells attractive for their customers, who will ultimately buy or receive femtocells for placement at their premises.

Berg Insight forecasts femtocell shipments to reach 12 million units worldwide in 2014, up from 0.2 million in 2009. The European, North American and advanced markets in Asia Pacific will account for the vast majority of femtocell shipments in the foreseeable future. In many other countries worldwide, the penetration of fixed broadband connections is much lower and 3G services less developed. By 2014, there will be almost six femtocells per macro base station and the number of femtocell users is estimated to surpass 70 million.

- Airvana
- AirWalk Communications
- Alcatel-Lucent
- AT&T
- BT
- Ericsson
- Hay Systems
- Huawei
- ip.access
- Kineto Wireless
- Motorola
- NEC
- Netgear
- Nokia Siemens Networks
- NTT DoCoMo
- Orange
- Percello
- picoChip
- Pirelli Broadband Solutions
- Qualcomm
- Sagem Communications
- Samsung
- Softbank
- Sprint
- StarHub
- Tatara Systems
- Telecom Italia
- Telefonica O
- Telekom Austria
- TeliaSonera
- Texas Instruments
- Thomson
- T-Mobile
- Ubiquisys
- Verizon Wireless
- Vodafone
- Wire
- ZTE

Product Samples

A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.

Customers who bought this item also bought

• USA B2C E-Commerce Report 2012
• The Future of Consumer VoIP: Leveraging Internet Advances for Profitable Consumer Voice Services
• Video Conferencing Systems - Global Strategic Business Report
• Web-to-Print - Global Strategic Business Report
• Video Conferencing Services - Global Strategic Business Report
• Mobile Security - Global Strategic Business Report
• North America B2C E-Commerce Report 2012
• Information Security Products And Services - Global Strategic Business Report
• Cyber Security - Global Strategic Business Report
• Internet Protocol Television (iPTV) - Global Strategic Business Report