14 DAY TRIAL // AT&T launched the test phase for its femtocell system a few months ago, and it seems that the company plans to launch its 3G Microcell in the country before the end of the ongoing year.
The device has been available in private beta in the United States until now, and the news says that the carrier will launch it in a sort of public beta in the following weeks.
As many of you might already know, AT&T's 3G Microcell is meant to offer a small cell area of coverage at home, while only needing a broadband connection to be plugged into. It seems that the piece of hardware was developed by Cisco, yet AT&T hasn't confirmed the news on the supplier up until now.
According to unstrung, AT&T's executive director for radio access network delivery, Gordon Mansfield, stated at the Femtocells World Summit in London that, while the 3G Microcell's had been in testing until now, the carrier planned to “expand that into a marketing trial of the AT&T-branded 3G Microcell, which will be open to customers through our AT&T stores… in a handful of cities. We're on track for a full national launch by the end of 2009.”
The new 3G Microcell, which is reported to come as a standalone device, and not a residential-gateway style multifunction unit, is expected to offer coverage improvements for the company's customers, yet it seems that other improvements could come along with it. The femtocell should offer up to 5,000 square feet of coverage, while also supporting up to four simultaneous, secure voice or data connections at the same time.
For now, no details on the pricing of the 3G Microcell have been unveiled, yet more should surface in the near future, so stay tuned to learn more on this.