2011 or beyond for Softbank femtocells …
Japanese new-entrant mobile operator Softbank has apologised for ‘misleading people’ about its femtocell strategy.
Softbank’s femtos are about coverage, not capacity
Speaking on a GSMA teleconference about HSPA, Tetsuzo Matsumoto, Chief Strategy Officer for SoftBank Mobile, said that the company distinguished between its short-term view and long-term view for femtocells. In the short term, Softbank intended to use femtocells purely as a coverage solution, as we have already seen in the US with Sprint’s Airave. They were intended to address the coverage shortcomings of the company’s network, which was adversely compared to that of its competitors, especially in rural areas. This was particularly an issue in the business market, where some potential customers complained that their branches or outlets did not have network coverage. Femtocells provided a solution which at least offered indoor coverage for these kinds of customer.
Solution to interference two to three years away
For the moment, therefore, Softbank’s much-heralded femtocell trials were all about coverage and had nothing to do with any plans for increasing capacity on its HSPA network. This formed part of its longer term view; but at the moment Softbank did not feel that there was a workable solution to the problem of cell-to-cell interference, between femtocells and the macro network. This was a big issue, and deployment was out of the question until it was resolved. Matsumoto agreed that there were lots of good ideas which could form the basis for a technical solution, but said he did not expect them to be fully realised for two to three years, in line with our recent report ‘Femtocell technology update: not ready until 2010′. He again apologised if the company had ‘given the wrong impression’ that it had its own solution which was fit for purpose now.
