According to a recent press release by ABI research, about 350,000 femtocells will have been shipped during 2009. This number is bound to be quite reliable, as it is published in November. It is a 55% reduction of the forecast of 790,000 published just 6 months ago.
As admitted by ABI research, carriers refused to share their reasoning. Common factors that are frequently mentioned as adversely impacting the adoption of femtocells are:
- The business case for femtocells is not clear, as clients are reluctant to paying extra for coverage and capacity, which they expect to be an integral part of their mobile subscription
- There is a fear that femtocells may cause excessive interference in the macro network
- The complications involved with installing, managing and supporting a large number of network infrastructure devices at customer premises
Nevertheless, ABI research remain positive about femtocells, and conclude that they still believe in the potential of this market for the longer term.
I personally am a strong believer in femtocells. Early forecasts are occasionally too optimistic, and it almost always takes more time than anticipated for new technologies to mature and ramp-up. I see femtocells as a disruptive technology that has the potential to change the mobile service in many ways. It will take time for the technology to mature, and for the market to discover their full potential, but it will happen. More on that – in future posts.
Dear Opher,
I enjoy following your very interesting analysis and blog. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and views.
I wonder if Femtocell is a good solution to deliver high definition voice and video.
Would love to hear your opinion.
Keep up with the great articles!
Yoav