Skip to main content

Wireless Femtocell Train is Easily Derailed

The worldwide wireless market in the developed world is approaching saturation, with mobile phone service providers offering little compelling differentiation except for price points and market coverage, according to In-Stat's latest assessment.

Mobile triple-play services (voice, video, and Internet) revenue opportunities are a potential solution to this situation, but only when cell operators first solve signal coverage and capacity issues in the indoor home environment, the high-tech market research firm says.

"Femtocells -- small cellular base stations designed for use in residential and small business environments that provide enhanced coverage at the edge of the wireless network -- are a practical, near-term cure for these problems, with no practical limitations," says Allen Nogee, In-Stat analyst. "Femtocell technology is unlikely to be superseded by another technology in the foreseeable future."

If only it were that simple -- where wireless market saturation could be solved with the introduction of a new technology. This was essentially the same myopic mindset that was responsible for the current 3G network deployment anticlimax. Build it, and they will come -- that's been the approach used thus far.

But, as I've stated before, marketing strategy should never be centered upon a foundation of a blind leap-of-faith. Carriers must acknowledge the historical facts -- what you don't know about the market can, and will, harm you.

The femtocell gravy train could easily be derailed, in my opinion, because to date the value proposition has been weak -- relative to the required investment. More work needs to be performed on the detailed application scenarios, in an effort to uncover all the potential value-added benefits.

The upside could very well be significant for service providers -- based upon meaningful and compelling user applications, not the underlying technology.

The founding of the Femto Forum, which counts several small femto-technology vendors among its founding members, marks the launch of the emerging femtocell industry.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- Worldwide femtocell subscriptions (installed devices) are expected to grow to 40.6 million by 2011.

- Femtocell end-users will reach 101.5 million over the next five years.

- Femtocell device and service pricing will be a major short-term challenge, likely requiring operator subsidization. Again, primarily because of the weak and untested value proposition.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial Cloud Computing Apps Gain Momentum

In the manufacturing industry, cloud computing can help leaders improve their production efficiency by providing them with real-time data about their operations. This has gained the attention of the C-suite. Total forecast Industrial Cloud platform revenue in manufacturing will surpass $300 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 22.57 percent, driven by solution providers enhancing platform interoperability while expanding partner ecosystems for application development. ABI Research found the cloud computing manufacturing market will grow over the next decade due to the adoption of new architectural frameworks that enhance data extraction and interoperability for manufacturers looking to maximize utility from their data. Industrial Cloud Computing Market Development "Historically, manufacturers have built out their infrastructure to include expensive data housing in the form of on-premises servers. The large initial upfront cost of purchasing, setting up, and maintaining these servers is

Credit Scoring Service Spending will Reach $44B

Credit scoring is a method that lenders use to predict the probability a borrower or counter-party will default on loans, or incur additional charges for repayment -- also known as measuring credit worthiness. The method is a key tool in making credit affordable for individuals and businesses. It links credit products to risk potential, connecting borrowers to secondary capital markets and increasing the amount of funds available. This securing process establishes risk predictability dependent on a number of factors, determined by financial indicators and other publicly available information reported by the credit bureaus. Credit Score Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they now forecast credit scoring services will grow by 67 percent to $44 billion by 2028. Juniper anticipates that emerging markets will experience the greatest growth -- projecting the African & Middle Eastern region to grow by 117 percent over the forecast period

AI Semiconductor Revenue will Reach $119.4B

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and/or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will guide Generative AI initiatives within the large enterprise C-Suite. They may already have the technical expertise and experience to understand the capabilities and limitations of Gen AI. They also have the authority and budget to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and talent to support Gen AI initiatives. Enterprise AI infrastructure is proven to be expensive to build, operate and maintain. That's why public cloud service provider solutions are often used for new AI use cases. AI Semiconductor Market Development Semiconductors designed to execute Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads will represent a $53.4 billion revenue opportunity for the global semiconductor industry in 2023, an increase of 20.9 percent from 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The developments in generative AI and the increasing use of a wide range AI-based applications in data c