Femtocells: what the future holds

26 June 2009

'Party alert' will provide parents with piece of mind

This week saw Vodafone announce plans to begin selling their Access Gateway device which aims to improve call quality and 3G coverage when in the home. The Vodafone Access Gateway is what is more commonly known as a Femtocell, a small box-like device that plugs directly into your broadband line. Well today Mobile Choice was taken through what other capabilities these devices provide, by manufacturer Airvana.

Although not yet available (expect another operator to begin distributing them soon), Airvana were keen to demonstrate their 'party alert' or 'boyfriend buster' application the first of many applications that works with Femtocells. The application takes its name from the fact that the device will detect any mobile phones within the home environment alerting the subscriber to the activity via a text message, email or even Facebook message. It means parents will be able to keep track of anyone entering the house without permission, say an unsuitable boyfriend of your teenage daughters for example.

Airvana envisages Femtocells to really take off in the coming years, when more and more compatible applications will be developed for the platform. You heard it here first folks.