Airvana Blog

Providing a residential femtocell to consumers with marginal in-home coverage would raise rating by a full grade

Following is a recent report from an iGR study regarding how mobile operators can utilize femotcells to provide better coverage and improved customer satisfaction for users.

iGR study shows that consumers give their mobile operator a B

Despite the continued influx of smartphones and press concerning data usage, iGR’s most recent
U.S. consumer survey found that voice network quality is the factor end users consider most when rating their operator.

Fortunately, 65 percent of those surveyed also indicated experiencing “excellent” or “very good” in-home cellular voice reception, but what about the remaining 35 percent? What could help extend “excellent”
residential voice coverage to all users?

In May 2012, iGR surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers about their current use of mobile phones and wireless technologies, and specifically inquired about their wireless service experience, how they rate their carrier and view in-home voice reception, and their awareness of residential femtocells. This new report details our findings.

While approximately 47 percent of consumers do not know what a femtocell is, just 2 percent of
respondents reported currently using a femto. Residential femtocells could have a measurable impact on subscriber’s wireless service experience and rating.  Close to 57 percent of respondents would raise their carrier's grade by a full letter or plus sign if supplied a femtocell device.

"While many people are not aware of residential femtocells, the fact is that many people have poor
or marginal in-home cellular coverage," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry. "In-home coverage is one of the main ways consumers measure the 'quality' of the cellular network and assess the relative value for money.  iGR's latest research finds that if a mobile operator were to offer residential femtocells, they could significantly improve their rating in the eyes of the consumer, potentially moving from a 'B' to a 'B+' or an A".

iGR’s new market research report, Residential Femtocells: Impact on Carrier Grades, provides details on how consumers view in-home coverage, the factors that drive their assessment of their mobile operator’s service, awareness and use of femtocells, and how a femtocell would improve the rating their give their
operator.

iGR’s new market research report, Residential Femtocells: Impact on Carrier Grades, details the wireles sservice experience and the awareness of residential femtocells among U.S. consumers as of May 2012, and addresses the following questions:

• What do they consider in such a
       grade?
• What kind of in-home voice
       reception are U.S. consumers experiencing?
• What do they consider in
       assessing in-home reception?
• Are U.S. consumers aware of
       residential femtocells?
• What demographics own
       femtocells?
• How do residential femtocells
       impact a U.S. consumer’s wireless service experience?
• How does a residential
       femtocell impact the grade consumers give to their mobile operator?
• How can operators use
       residential femtocells to improve the consumer  experience? 

The new report can be purchased and downloaded directly from iGR’s website, providing immediate access to a digital copy of the research. Alternatively, contact Iain Gillott at (512) 263-5682 or at iain@igr-inc.com for additional details on this report as well as information on the Wireless and Mobile Landscape advisory service.

Airvana at Mobile World Congress

Airvana LLC will be giving private demonstrations of its next-generation 4G small cell technology at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. 

Airvana's LTE small cell technology will leverage much of the same hardware and software architecture as its 3G CDMA small cell.  This enables Airvana to provide wireless operators an LTE small cell with field-proven stability and a wealth of platform features that incorporate years of learning from some of the largest small cell deployments in the world. 

More on the Airvana web site: www.airvana.com    

Femtocell market set to double in 2012, Airvana expands lead

"This year the femtocell market will scale up significantly and break out into clearer market segments: consumer, enterprise, and rural and metro public space femtocells. As price points continue to come down, we expect to see global femtocell revenue nearly double this year while unit shipments grow at nearly 140% compared to 2011," predicts Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave, mobile offload and mobile broadband devices at Infonetics Research.  Read more market highlights on the Infonetics site:

http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2011/3Q11-2G-3G-4G-Femtocell-Market-Highlights.asp

Airvana Demonstrates World’s First End-to-End LTE Femtocell Solution

Integrated end-to-end architecture represents a major step towards commercial grade LTE femtocell deployment

Chelmsford, MA, November 7, 2011 – Airvana LLC, the global market share leader in femtocells, has today announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first end-to-end LTE femtocell solution in partnership with Hitachi Communications Technology Americas.  The live demonstration was conducted for a Tier 1 Mobile Service Operator in September 2011.  

The end-to-end solution used commercially available LTE terminals, the Airvana LTE femtocell, the Hitachi HeNB Gateway, and Hitachi’s commercially available Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution.  The demonstration included performance tests as well as live video streaming and internet browsing.

An LTE femtocell, also known as a Home eNode B (HeNB), provides LTE base-station functionality in a very small, cost-effective form factor to ensure maximum LTE performance to users inside businesses and homes.  In wireless networks where data demands are constantly outpacing existing infrastructure, LTE femtocell solutions enable the efficient handling of LTE data traffic while minimizing the signaling load to the existing EPC elements in the core network.

“Airvana has a history of innovation, with the first 3G CDMA femtocell, the first IMS-based femtocell, and the first standards-based, open femtocell management system,” explained Michael Clark, Airvana’s General Manager for femtocells.  “Being the first vendor to successfully complete an end-to-end LTE small cell demonstration is another tremendous accomplishment and proves the readiness of our LTE femtocell network architecture, soon to be introduced into commercial LTE networks,” added Clark.

Airvana and Hitachi have partnered in the past to provide end-to-end CDMA femtocell solutions; the partnership is now extended to LTE.  “The HeNB Gateway leverages the Hitachi ER5000 MME’s proven subscriber and mobility management software and demonstrates the innovative architectural flexibility of Hitachi’s solution.  We are pleased to provide this product as part of the end-to-end LTE femtocell solution with Airvana,” said Don Keeler, VP of PLM & Business Development, Hitachi Communication Technologies America, Inc.

“In addition to the LTE femtocell, Airvana provides a standards-based femtocell management system for automated configuration, radio interference management, and monitoring of both CDMA and LTE femtocells,” noted Michael McFarland, Airvana’s Senior Director of Product Management and Marketing.  “This platform is already managing hundreds of thousands of multi-mode 1x/EVDO CDMA femtocells in commercial wireless networks and is being extended to support LTE.” 

The full release and more information on Airvana, LLC please visit the web site at www.airvana.com.

Airvana Takes Market Share Lead in Femtocell Market

Chelmsford, MA – October 7, 2011 - Airvana LLC, the 3G CDMA and LTE femtocell company, today announced that it has surged ahead of the competition to take the lead in overall global femtocell market share, according to the 2G, 3G, and 4G Femtocell Report recently released from Infonetics Research.  Infonetics’ quarterly femtocell report tracks worldwide market size, vendor market share, and revenue analysis for the femtocell market, including analysis of the top femtocell equipment manufacturers. 

Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and small cells at Infonetics Research noted that adoption by tier-1 customers, together with the higher ARPU enjoyed by EV-DO femtocells has helped to drive Airvana’s revenue market share to 22%, allowing them to take the lead in the overall femtocell market in 2Q11.  Webb added, “Global femtocell revenue will grow nearly 40% in 2011, indicating that the market is accelerating and has started to achieve some scale.  Infonetics anticipates that femtocells will gain mass-scale traction in 2012 and we’ll see the market increase by 100% in that year.”

Read more on the Airvana web site....