2Wire Asks Users What They Think About Femtocells.

To hear some in the broadband industry tell it, the hottest new technology coming down the track is femtocells - the use of broadband in homes and businesses to serve as a type of backhaul for standard cellular voice and data service. The technology holds out the promise of an end to poor indoor cellular reception, resulting in fixed-mobile-convergence (FMC) implications that include a major impetus for mobile substitution for fixed lines.

And to hear many in the industry talk, the success of femtocells, once they hit market, already is a given.

But not so fast, says xDSL modem maker 2Wire. Nobody, it seems, has bothered to ask one key constituency - end users - what they think about femtocells. Plugging that hole, 2Wire hired Quality Research Associates (QRA) to find out what users really think. The research house tallied 620 responses. As expected, the majority of those polled take service from Verizon Wireless (31 percent) or AT&T Wireless (25 percent), while Sprint and T-Mobile garnered 11 percent each., The remaining 21 percent of those surveyed come from Alltel, the Nextel side of the Sprint Nextel house, and various mobile virtual network operators.

The folks at 2Wire provided TelecomWeb broadband with a complete copy of the 48-page report written by QRA, and we believe the results are critical for everyone in the industry to understand.

The Demand For Femtocells

The first thing 2Wire established is that the key demand factor for femtocells exists: Some 42 percent of those surveyed said they had dropped calls or poor reception inside the home.

The implications for both fixed-line and cellular carriers are compelling, with femtocell technology apparently poised to impact both the issues of churn among cellular carriers and mobile substitution. QRA reported 43 percent of those it surveyed said they would consider switching to a wireless provider that could promise in-home cellular coverage that was good as fixed- line service. More than half said they would be willing to renew their existing cellphone service agreements if their in-home cellular coverage and voice quality were as good as their fixed voice service.