Released on: March 6, 2008, 4:11 am

Press Release Author: Shally

Industry: Media

Press Release Summary: Mobile phone companies including O2 and Vodafone are testing
the technology as a way of increasing take-up of their own residential broadband
services and differentiate them from existing providers such as TalkTalk, Sky and
BT.
T-Mobile, however, does not have a residential broadband offering in the UK and its
tests suggest it is looking at the potential of tying broadband with its mobile
phone service.


Press Release Body: T-Mobile Venture Fund announced that it has invested in a
Swindon-based, home-networking company called Ubiquisys, which also counts Google
among its backers, as it prepares to test the potential of the company\'s in-home
mobile masts in the UK later this year.

Ubiquisys has been focusing on Femtocells and these are a very low-powered mobile
phone base station, which consumers can place in their home. As the device uses less
power than a Wi-Fi connection, there are no health risks. When connected to a
broadband line, it greatly increases in-home mobile coverage and allows a mobile
user to make free calls while at home from their existing handset.


Mobile phone companies including O2 and Vodafone are testing the technology as a
way of increasing take-up of their own residential broadband services and
differentiate them from existing providers such as TalkTalk, Sky and BT.
T-Mobile, however, does not have a residential broadband offering in the UK and its
tests suggest it is looking at the potential of tying broadband with its mobile
phone service.

Several major telecoms equipment companies such as Alcatel-Lucent and China\'s Huawei
are also developing femtocell technology. Several major technology names have
already become interested in the potential of femtocells and invested in a series of
start-ups.

As well as Google, Ubiquisys, which manufactures its products in a former Sony plant
in south Wales, has received funding from Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Advent
Venture Partners.

As well as cheap calls from home, T-Mobile said femtocells allow operators to bundle
mobile and fixed broadband services, and to differentiate themselves by offering
mobile applications based on home presence and sharing data with the home network.

For instance, one femtocell maker has suggested working parents could be notified of
the return of their children after school as the femtocell would pick up their
mobile signal when they come home and send an email or text alert.

\"Femtocells are fundamental to the future of mobile,\" said Axel Kolb, fund manager
at T-Mobile Venture Fund. \"They pave the way for new mobile services that put the
mobile phone at the centre of the connected home.\"


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