Who says femtocells aren't catching on? From ip.access' perspective, the small cell market is accelerating, driven by enterprise, retail, public hot spots, metro zones and more.
"Things are going quite well," says Simon Brown, CEO of ip.access, the U.K. small cell manufacturer that today announced its Oyster 3G femtocell product has been deployed in 500,000 locations worldwide. It expects to pass the 1 million milestone next year.
One of ip.access' major customers is Cisco, which uses Oyster 3G core technology in its 3G MicroCell solution for AT&T here in the United States.
Brown can't get too specific on numbers due to non-disclosure agreements, but it's fair to say there's reasonable demand here. The company also sees demand growing in Asia; the European market is more "steady as she goes," he says.
For some time now in the femtocell market, the prevailing question has been: "When is it going to take off?" ip.access is here to say: It is taking off – for multiple reasons. One is the data crunch is real and affecting networks around the world, and another is the economics are penciling out.
So, is the macro cell network now turning into a small cell network? At the end of the day, you need a well-functioning macro network, but supplemented with other technology for specific requirements. Brown is careful not to over-hype the small cell space. "Both have to go hand in hand," he says. "Both work together."
The company says it has more than 60 operator partners for its 3G and 2G small cell technology. It hasn't yet announced an LTE product, but that's in the works.