Low wholesale price point will enable operators to bundle free femtocells with wide range of existing subscriber packages

Swindon, UK: Ubiquisys, the leading provider of 3G femtocells, today confirmed that the $100 "industry price barrier" for commercial femtocells has been passed. The company's Femto-Engine system has enabled hardware manufacturers, with minimal cellular experience, to make cost-optimised femtocells customised to operator requirements. For years the industry has been pointing to the $100 milestone as a significant point in the transition of femtocells from early adopters and niche applications into the consumer mainstream.

The Ubiquisys Femto-Engine system has two main components.  The first is the operator-proven Femto-Engine software that makes the femtocell ready for real-world deployment.  The second is a combination of hardware blueprints, operational systems and manufacturing support that gives hardware manufacturers a fast track to femtocell production.

Femto-Engine incorporates the experience gained by Ubiquisys over years of operator testing and deployment on live networks, including validated interoperability with hundreds of mobile phones.  Hardware manufacturers get this operator experience out-of-the-box, bypassing the huge investment in radio systems and software development required to produce a commercial femtocell.

"Operators have long demanded a sub-$100 price point so they can offer femtocells for free," said Chris Gilbert, CEO Ubiquisys.  "Our Femto-Engine system is mobilising a new ecosystem of manufacturers who are fully equipped to meet this demand, and we have already received our first 100,000 unit order using this model."

Aditya Kaul, Practice Director Mobile Networks at ABI Research, says that "The $100 mark has been a well-recognised psychological barrier for mass-market femtocells, and its crossing could really open the floodgates." Kaul adds, "The Ubiquisys Femto Engine is an important enabler in the Do-it Yourself (DIY) toolkit for consumer equipment manufacturers. It should allow manufacturers to quickly respond to the growing demand for different femto form factors by reducing some of the complexity involved, and allowing them to focus on their core strengths of high-volume, low-cost and high-quality."

The G3-mini from Ubiquisys hardware partner SerComm is the first example of this new generation of low-cost femtocells.  It represents the latest in femtocell innovation, with performance of eight calls and 14.4/5.7 Mbps data capacity.  Power consumption is less than 5W and the device stands just 8cm tall.  It is powered by Ubiquisys Femto-Engine software, which means it is specifically designed to operate in mass-scale deployments on a shared carrier.

About Ubiquisys
Ubiquisys pioneered the commercial development of femtocells, with worldwide deployments including SFR in France and SoftBank in Japan.  Its Femto-Engine software system creates a complete ready-to-deploy 3G femtocell, providing proven self-organising capabilities off-the-shelf.  Ubiquisys Hardware Blueprints enable manufacturers to rapidly produce low-cost "Engine-Ready" femtocells for Consumer, Business, Enterprise Self-Organising Networks (SONs), Metro and Rural applications.  Ubiquisys is ranked the #1 femtocell vendor by ABI Research and investors include Google and T-Mobile Venture Fund. (www.ubiquisys.com)