Picocells
Picocell industry news

The network was required due to the mobile nature of staff working on the site.

Hunting Energy's global IT manager Neil Cumming said that those working at Laurencekirk had previously had to deal with problems relating to low signal strength.

However, he noted: "The Private Mobile Network solution has been well received by staff.

"Signal strength is excellent and the voice quality and reliability have been perfect."

In a bid to support well construction projects, a range of downhole services and equipment are offered by Hunting Energy.

The firm provides technologies such as mud motors and drill collars.

Network Norway's chief executive officer Arild E Hustad believes that it is important to tackle coverage problems.

He commented: "We are now able to carry out a pilot to commercially and technically test state-of-the-art phone services solving the problem with indoor coverage, as well as a continuous, high-speed broadband service."

The partnership was confirmed during the Mobile World Congress 2010 event which has recently been held in Barcelona, Spain.

Earlier this month, it was announced that 2G nanoGSM picocells developed by ip.access are to be offered to those who receive enterprise services from the French network operator Bouygues Telecom.

Ip.access' track record and its high-speed EDGE connectivity were picked out as determining factors in Bouygues' selection.

Commenting on the new agreement, the telecom company's Sebastian Racu, who is in charge of its picocell programme, underlined the reliability of the nanoGSM.

He said: "The ip.access nanoGSM system met all our requirements when we assessed the various solutions on the market.

"NanoGSM's reliability, together with its rapid and seamless integration with our existing core network assets was confirmed during the trial period and the first site deployments."

The announcement comes not long after Irish telecoms operator Meteor indicated that it would also be taking a closer look at femtocell technology to enhance its 3G network coverage, particularly in areas with poor signal coverage.

She believes that this development bears a relation to femtocells aimed at individual mobile phone users, which allow people to set up the devices on their own.

In her Rethink Wireless piece, Ms Gabriel has commented that when it comes to picocells and femtocells, "the two categories appear to be coming closer together in key areas of technology such as self-configuration".

Following the system release 4.1 enhancement made to ip.access's picocell, the company's chief executive officer Stephen Mallinson noted the financial benefits that may arise now that enterprises do not need mobile operators to help install the technology.