November 20, 2009 – Ubiquisys, the leading developer of 3G femtocells, today announced commercial availability of its wide area femtocell solution, providing a coverage area of up to 12km2 (5 sq. miles) at a fraction of the cost of existing solutions. The new femtocell is ideal for rural areas with poor coverage, such as isolated villages, hamlets or farms. The company recently shared the results of a live demonstration of the solution in the field, at the Femtocell Americas event in San Diego.
The Wide Area Femtocells have a capacity of up to 16 calls and can either be mounted outdoors, or placed indoors with an external antenna, typically attached to the roof of the building. They can be deployed very quickly, because they continuously adapt their radio configuration according to the operator’s policies, working in harmony with the regular mobile network and eliminating the need for a radio planning project.

The solution can be combined with Ubiquisys Grid System technology to cover still larger areas with multiple femtocells, which form a self-organising mesh of coverage and capacity.  

Ubiquisys has performed a field demonstration of its wide area femtocells in a rural area near Swindon in the UK.  The demonstration showed that for less energy than it takes to power a light bulb, a village area with a 1.5km radius was provided with comprehensive coverage.

The wide area femtocell solution is commercially available today and is being actively deployed.

“Ubiquisys has proved the potential of their wide area femtocells.  They provide a targeted and economical 3G coverage solution,” said Yoshihito Shimazaki, General Manager, Mobile Technology Development Division at Softbank Mobile.

“This is no reference design – it’s a robust commercial solution.  Our femtocells automatically adapt to their environment, eliminating the need for radio planning and enabling fast deployment of coverage and capacity precisely where it’s needed.  Our wide area solution provides yet more evidence that femtocells are more than a new technology, they are changing the economics of mobile,” said Chris Gilbert, CEO Ubiquisys.

About Ubiquisys Ltd
Ubiquisys is the specialist femtocell company recognized by the World Economic Forum as a 2009 Technology Pioneer. Its ZoneGate femtocells are available as standalone units or as part of residential gateways, including the SerComm FC210U and Netgear's DVG834GH. In 2007 Ubiquisys created the Femto Forum to promote standards in this fast-emerging industry. ABI Research named Ubiquisys as the world's leading femtocell vendor in their 2009 Femtocell Vendor Matrix. In September 2008 the company announced that Softbank would be the world's first operator to offer 3G femtocell services using ZoneGate. Ubiquisys investors include Google and T-Mobile Venture Fund. (www.ubiquisys.com)