Femtocell vendor Ubiquisys raised $11 million from existing investors as it prepares for what is calls a rush of large-scale femtocell deployments that will begin later this year. Google and T-Mobile International are among the company's strategic investors.
According to Chris Gilbert, the company's CEO, operators are about to enter a femtocell launch cycle this autumn. "The femtocell industry is about to enter a phase of aggressive growth," said Gilbert. "Securing this funding, against the current economic backdrop, underlines our investors' commitment to the company's technology and reaffirms our position as pioneers of the femtocell market." This most recent round of funding now totals $53 million since the company started in August 2006.
Gilbert maintains that a meaningful number of large operators are about to enter the "soft launch" phase with femtocells. This will see devices provided to between 2,000 and 3,000 paying subscribers so operators can tune their infrastructure, billing and marketing plans to support nationwide deployments. "We're developing and building resources and equipment to support these rollouts," said Gilbert.
The company also stated that it would have its new femtocell device - which is smaller than today's iPhone but has significantly improved technical capabilities, ready for mass production by February 2010.
For more:
- read Electronics Weekly
Related articles:
T-Mobile invests in femtocell maker
Femtocells: T-Mobile and Orange remain skeptical
LTE femtocells may be more about coverage than speed