Skip to main content

FMC and Femtocell Reaches Anticlimax

The hype surrounding fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and femtocells continues to grow, but it is likely that neither technology will live up to expectations, according to the latest study by In-Stat.

There is much interest in fixed-mobile service (FMS) enabled by femtocells and FMC among consumers, with the promise of more convenience and lower costs, the high-tech market research firm says.

Femtocells are micro-base stations designed for home use that support mobile connectivity over the broadband facility. FMC uses Wi-Fi-enabled routers and handsets to carry mobile calls over a broadband connection.

"In-Stat believes that by 2010 the FMC and femtocell market segments will evolve to form a new fully-converged services market segment," says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst.

Current unlicensed mobile access (UMA) and IMS-based FMC services, which emphasize cheap phone calling, will be marginalized. Likewise, operators that deploy femtocell-based services using the same cut-rate calling value proposition will be short-lived. Converged services that emulate the home telecommunications experience will emerge because they will be more highly-valued by consumers than are individual services.

The research provides detailed analysis of the FMC, FMS, and femtocell markets. It presents forecasts for dual-mode cellular Wi-Fi handsets, UMA and IMS FMC subscribers, as well as subscribers to femtocell-based services. In addition, the report presents primary research findings that confirm strong consumer interest in FMC and FMS services. The evolution of FMC and femtocell services and the emergence of fully–converged services are examined.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- By 2011, over 53 million session initiated protocol (SIP)-enabled mobile handsets will ship.

- New UMA subscriber additions will peak in 2009 at approximately 3.5 million.

- By 2011, over 100 million consumers will have access to femtocell-enabled gateways.

Popular posts from this blog

Trends Shaping the Global Smartphone Market

There is a pivotal shift within the global smartphone market. Recent data from IDC highlights a more cautious outlook for 2025, with projected worldwide smartphone shipments seeing a significantly reduced growth rate. This revised forecast underscores the intricate interplay of global economic factors and geopolitical dynamics on pervasive personal communication devices. IDC's latest update projects a mere 0.6 percent growth in worldwide smartphone shipments for 2025, a stark reduction from the earlier 2.3 percent expectation. Global Smartphone Market Development This recalibration is largely attributed to prevailing economic uncertainties, including inflationary pressures and rising unemployment, alongside the persistent specter of tariff volatility. Despite these global tensions, it's interesting to note that the United States and China are still identified as the primary drivers of this modest growth. China, a critical market, is forecast to achieve a 3 percent year-over-yea...