Summary
Delay in femto deployments as a result of technical, operational, and economical issues. Many vendors may disappear if not already engaged since introducing a new technology will be challenging during a global recession. Case of diverging opinion among carriers! Jury is out on the success of the femtocells.
Analysis
During Femto World Forum, the Orange representative commented that there are big challenge for femtos:
10% of customers move annually and as a result Femtocells must be easily moved around and be reinstalled. They are not convinced that this is the case yet.
Concerns with RF safety as viewed by the end users (perception problem).
Cost of install €300 to €500 per man in van (truck role)! Add this to cost of femto and the business case does not fly. Unattended install is a must have, but no yet there. THe consumers may not placed the femto in the right place and will then complain about coverage and a truck role will follow.
UMA is very cost efficient and strategic for Orange (this is dual mode WiFi/GSM service called UNIK).
Challenge in business case. How much to charge? What would customer pay? Especially in recession. Big issue and can delay launch by several years and many vendors may disappear.
Can operators afford it? 3G only or with 2G? 30% 3G coverage. The deployment must have no impact on macro cellular network.
3rd party broadband for backhaul, 2M down 256K uplink a major issue! When the service does not work, the consumer will call the mobile carrier and not the broadband carrier. If the broadband access fails, mobile operators will get the call. End to end QOS must be guaranteed, but with 3rd party broadband in the mix, it is not possible.
Overall, not a pretty picture for 3G femtocells based on the comments from Orange! Let's see how successful AT&T and Vodafone will be with their implementation plans!
