High speed packet access (HSPA) is shaping up to be the key driver behind future femtocell adoption, says a new report from analyst firm Infonetics Research.­ Once users are hooked on high speed mobile data services, the report contends, subscribing to a femtocell service could follow to ensure coverage and capacity consistency for services delivered to the home or office.

"When HSPA becomes more widely available, mobile broadband adoption, which has been unabated in recent years, will get an extra push. Femtocells, in turn, should see an uptick in adoption, as they provide consistent indoor wireless coverage and give mobile operators a stronger positioning in the home broadband network. Once launched, femtocells offered with home-zone tariffs could be seen as a 'recession-buster' deal for consumers seeking to reduce mobile voice call charges, and the early market could see decent growth, despite the prevailing economic climate," said Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX and mobile devices at Infonetics Research.

Other highlights from the report:

Despite being a commercially available technology with numerous products on the market, mobile operators continue to adopt a cautious approach to femtocells due to the technology and business model challenges yet to be overcome

Major strides forward have been made in 2008 for a femtocell standard, with the industry achieving consensus -- driven by the Femto Forum -- regarding the Iu-h interface between the femtocell and the femtocell gateway/mobile core network

2009 is expected to be the first year of significant traction for the femtocell and femtocell gateway markets

UMA, once thought to be competitive with femtocells, is likely to be a driver for femtocell adoption, with mobile operators expected to offer dual mode FMC services with cheap/free voice calls and enhanced 3G coverage via UMA-based femtocells

Source:cellular-news