Femtocell moves point to a market ripe for Cisco and the ODMs
Published: 1 May, 2008
READ MORE: Femtocells
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More strategic partnerships could follow a significant Cisco push into the carrier market via femtocells, especially as operators start to look to LTE and WiMAX. Many cellcos in developed mobile economies are interested in building out 4G-class networks and services initially in limited area 'hotzones' covering high value, well targeted areas of user demand - keeping 3G and its evolutions for the foreseeable future as the main engine of wide area mobile coverage. So while femtocells help with the latter by enhancing coverage, indoor penetration and capacity at relatively low cost, they can have a far more fundamental role in the hotzone approach, becoming a major component of early stage deployment of new networks (hence the wariness of Ericsson, which has been making assiduous efforts to ensure its own iron grip on first generation LTE systems).
As femtocells move from tactical to strategic - to reduce cost and risk for 4G and to give cellcos the guiding hand in the home network - Cisco may find, if it has achieved the success if should do in this sector, that it is being courted by would-be partners from the cellular equipment world. Cisco has often been expected to pursue an alliance or even merger with one of these suppliers to further its own cause among cellcos (Nortel being the most frequently tipped), but in the 4G era, where key elements of the access network are coming from the consumer electronics and off-the-shelf internet model, the position may be reversed, with a top tier mobile vendor discovering it needs Cisco's help after all.
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