Femtocell Market up 154 Percent: Infonetics Research

The first edition of the biannual 2010 FCMC and Femtocell Equipment, Phones, and Subscribers report has been released by Infonetics Research (News - Alert), a market research firm. The report provides market size, market share, analysis, and forecasts for fixed-mobile convergence network elements and femtocells.

According to Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices, Infonetics Research and co-author of the report, many had heralded 2009 as the year of the femtocell. In spite of progresses like the establishment of the Iu-h interface, initiation of an interoperability test program by the Femto Forum (News - Alert) and fall in femtocell prices. He has predicted that femtocell adoption will remain modest in 2010, and then in 2011-2012 the femtocell segment is expected to begin to prove itself and also drive the rest of the FMC market.

According to co-author of the report and principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure, Infonetics Research, Stephane Teral (News - Alert), VCC's fate was sealed with UMA morphing into an app and the GSMA endorsement of the OneVoice initiative, which has been renamed VoLTE or voice over Long Term Evolution. This has declared IMS the long-term universal voice service delivery platform.

According to the report, the number of femtocells sold is expected to pick up significantly next year, reaching 2.5 million in 2011. Major companies have launched commercial femtocell services including AT&T, China Unicom, CSL, Network Norway, Sprint (News - Alert), Verizon and Vodafone. Majority of 3G operators are expected to postpone femtocell launches until late 2010 or 2011.

Strong growth in the FMC security gateway segment starting in 2010, with manufacturer revenue doubling between 2010 and 2011 will be driven by the need for mobile data off-load. According to the report, Apple will reach the first place in the massive dual-mode cellular/WiFi phone market in the fourth quarter of 2009, with the rise of the iPhone (News - Alert). This will push Nokia out of the leadership position for the first time.

The report also states that revenue from seamless FMC phones with embedded IMS technology and dual-mode WiFi and cellular functionality grew 51 percent in 2009 over 2008. By 2014, the number of worldwide seamless FMC subscribers is forecast to reach 64 million, with IMS-based FMC subscribers increasing.