Femtocells are small cellular base stations using broadband connections for backhaul, intended to extend coverage and offload the mobile macro network in home and small office environments. Numerous operators are trialing femtocells and several have launched services on their networks including AT&T in the latter half of 2009.

According to a September 2009 research report from Berg Insight, femtocell shipments will grow from 0.2 million units in 2009 at a CAGR of 127 percent to 12 million units worldwide in 2014.

The European, North American and advanced markets in Asia-Pacific are expected to account for the vast majority of femtocell shipments in the foreseeable future. In many other countries worldwide, the penetration of fixed broadband connections is much lower and 3G services less developed. By 2014, there will be almost six femtocells per macro base station and the number of users that connect to a femtocell on a regular basis is estimated to surpass 70 million.

In an update to its April 2009

Femtocell Shipments Forecast, ABI Research scaled down its estimates, reflecting the slower-than-expected adoption of femtocells by mobile operators. The number of shipments they forecast for 2009 was 790,000 and that was downsized by about 55 percent to 350,000 femtocell shipments by the end of 2009.

Fairly consistent with this forecast was research from Juniper Research, which noted that consumer mobile phone users' desire for improved 3G network coverage in their homes will be the main driving force behind femtocell deployments in the next few years, with subscriptions predicted to surpass the 15 million mark worldwide during 2012

Source: New Report on Technology choices for Mobile Broadband published on 3GAmericas.org