Samsung announced that it's bringing its femtocell base station to Verizon Wireless.
The Verizon Wireless Extender is similar to the Sprint Airave, which Samsung introduced last year.
The Extender requires a normal power outlet and a home broadband Internet connection. If you're on the phone and leave the house, the call will switch automatically between the Extender's coverage area and Verizon's standard network. It costs more than most Verizon handsets ($249), but unlike Sprint's Airave, Verizon doesn't charge monthly fees after the initial investment.
Mass deployments of femtocells, which act as mini cell phone towers for better in-home coverage, have been held up by a number of standardization and regulation issues, but the technology is still anticipated by many to be a big player in the wireless industry’s future network ecosystem.
Yet there’s growing sentiment that customers shouldn’t have to pay extra to get good coverage from their carrier. When a customer purchases a femtocell, they’re also helping to meet the carrier’s backhaul demands.