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All of this involves a lot more work than just bolting down a small cell and connecting it to the network. The network head says AT&T; has learnt a lot from its deployment of 3G femtocells during the past few years. They work well in a rural area where macro
There's an interesting disconnect in the world of small cells at the moment. Interest in use of the tiny radios is at a peak but that hasn't translated into sales yet.
While carriers are more interested in deploying the technology, which uses tiny basestations to increase the coverage and capacity of a network, this hasn't meant a big jump in revenue for the associated ecosystem of vendors so far.
AT&T's HSPA+ metrocells are getting ready for nationwide prime time, with the operator testing combo LTE/3G & Wi-Fi units in the lab
2013 will be the debutante year for small cells using 4G LTE technology for faster data connections in homes, offices and public spaces.
So Light Reading Mobile is looking at five carriers going big with the tiny base stations next year:
Operator launches public-access small-cell service offering free 3G data in restaurants and cafes in Greece
Colt Technology Services in partnership with NEC, today announced that it is conducting the first ever live trials of Small Cells using Femto-as-a-Service (FaaS) with a leading, large-scale European mobile operator, using a multi-operator Small Cell (Femto) Gateway.
For Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), developing an Long Term Evolution (LTE) small cell is a top priority, according to the company's small cell business development manager, John Murray.
Exactly what that product is, though, Murray isn't saying, but it's apparent that the project is important to the vendor.
Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) is in the final stages of acquiring small-cell chipset specialistDesignArt Networks , according to an industry source.
Mobile operators that are contemplating small cells but can't work out where to locate the little base stations and create capacity where it's needed most could turn to Twitter Inc. and Flickr for some answers.
Network planning issues are some of the more difficult challenges mobile operators face when it comes to deploying public access small cells.
In time for the London 2012 Olympics, Telefónica UK Ltd. 's mobile operator O2 has switched on a public outdoor Wi-Fi network using equipment from Ruckus Wireless Inc. (See Small Cell Network Planning Poses Problems and More IPO Ruckus .)
Details emerge about AT&T's plans for tiny base stations as the operator issues an RFI
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) held a special, two-day workshop last week on future radio access network (RAN) technologies, and some details about what was discussed have emerged.
Light Reading Mobile compiles a list of public access small-cell products to track this developing wireless infrastructure market
As operators revamp their Wi-Fi service strategies, divergent marketing models have emerged
At Ethernet Europe, Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Patrick Donegan talks about the small-cell backhaul conundrum, the evolution of wholesale mobile backhaul and the Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid Champions League semi-final
Sprint will start coordinating its small cell network, which Azzi said includes "several hundred thousand" small cells already, with its macro network in late 2012 to early 2013.
"You will have seen some announcements around Flexi Zone -- that's a picocell, a small cell, it's technology that came from the Motorola side [Motorola Networks, acquired in April 2011], and that's a sign of innovation clearly coming back to NSN. And we are improving quality a lot as well, again through a lot of the Motorola processes."
Japanese operator will stop offering femto services later this year, but will still give away the tiny base stations for free
KT Corp. plans to announce the first Long Term Evolution (LTE) small cell deployment on Monday at Mobile World Congress, Light Reading Mobilehas learned.
Finally, the Femto Forum has dropped the "F" word from its name and from now on will be known as the Small Cell Forum Ltd.
