Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard
mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections.
The Femto Forum (www.femtoforum.org) was set up in July 2007 to promote the wide-scale
adoption of femtocells. It will support and drive the adoption of industry wide standards and common
architectures to enable the widespread adoption & deployment of femtocells by operators around the
world.
The Forum will direct and implement a multi-faceted marketing campaign to raise the profile, drive
technology development & deployment and to promote the potential of femto solutions among
industry stakeholders, journalists, analysts, regulators, special interest groups, standards bodies and
consumers.
The Forum is currently chaired by Simon Saunders and has more than 40 members from the operator
and vendor community worldwide.
The Forum has established four working groups which address the key issues affecting the femtocell
industry – Regulatory, Network & Interoperability, Radio & Physical Layer and Marketing & Promotion.
l The marketing & promotion group is looking at how the industry should best position femtocells within
the industry and to the wider public, build usage cases, agree common terminology and manage
any potential concerns.
l The radio & physical layer group is developing standardised RF interfaces, clarifying the various
capability classes of femtocell and examining interactions with outdoor cells.
l The network & interoperability group is promoting standardised requirements, architectures and
interfaces for integrating femtocells into the network core and ensuring multi-vendor interoperability.
l The regulatory group identifies regulatory benefits and potential issues pertaining to public policy in
various strategic markets around the world and works with regulators to ensure a benign environment
for rapid and efficient femtocell deployment.
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