The femtocell consumer value proposition has three key components: it’s better, simpler and cheaper than alternative phone/broadband experiences.
It’s better
Femtocells provide the best 3G coverage experience
Femtocells provide a personal 3G signal in the home. Because the signal is not shared with others outside the family, a femtocell delivers the best possible 3G experience.
Key benefits include: excellent voice quality; the highest data speeds; no network busy signals; and lower power consumption – meaning longer handset battery life.
Femtocells give an always-on, broadband speed connection to web-based applications and services. So YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, IM, iTunes and more are instantly available from any room of the house via a standard 3G phone. Femtocells also offers true immediacy for time-sensitive applications like search – recipes can be sought after in the kitchen, and game show quizzes can be researched and answered in the lounge. Greater privacy is another benefit – important for certain mobile web experiences such films and music.
It’s simpler
Femtocells simplify services in the home
A ‘femtozone’ family plan offers a simpler alternative to multiple mobile phone contracts and bills. Removing a landline connection altogether for voice might be an option for some customers, offering the simplicity of a single handset and single number for all phone calls.
Because femtocells are compatible with standard 3G handsets, there’s no need for special, dual-mode phones. It's simple and totally seamless. No tricky configuration or upgrades for customers to worry about – they just continue to use the existing macro network outdoors, while enjoying improved quality and capacity at home.
By making internet-based tasks quicker and easier, the femtocell can also simplify the life of an individual subscriber. At home, convenience counts, and a great femtocell 3G experience on a mobile device can really take the hassle factor out of some standard internet tasks like email and web-based research.
Devices are always-on, meaning no waiting whilst the desktop PC boots up. And data sharing and back-up can be made simpler via auto-syncing between phone, PC and web. For example, photos taken on a smartphone can be automatically uploaded to photo sharing services on the web once a user enters the femtozone.
It’s cheaper
Femtocells enable cheaper tariffs and bundled service offers
Operators can use femtocells to offer customers compelling price benefits. Using a femtocell to deliver 3G services is much cheaper for the operator, opening up the possibility to charge less for services at home – whether it’s free outbound calling, or a low cost multi-play DSL bundle (including a femtocell and modem) providing an attractive option for homes with a voice, mobile data and broadband requirement.
Femtozone price plans can be implemented in a similar way to existing homezone tariffs (which are based on the macro network cell ID) – the difference being that the femtozone is more local to the home.
