Europe : T-Mobile Venture Fund today announced that it has made a strategic investment in Ubiquisys, the global leader in 3G femtocells, joining Google and original investors Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Advent Venture Partners.
Femtocells are small consumer devices the size of a paperback book that connect to the home broadband connection. Mobile users benefit from excellent, high-speed 3G coverage using their existing handset, as well as low-cost voice and data services in the home. Femtocells also allow operators to more effectively bundle mobile and fixed broadband services, and to differentiate themselves by offering a new generation of web 2.0 mobile applications based on home presence and sharing data with the home network.
The Ubiquisys femtocell is currently in mass production with Sony Technium. These units are being used by Ubiquisys' partners such as Nokia Siemens Networks and NEC, to satisfy operator trials worldwide including T-Mobile. This strategic investment supports the drive towards the first commercial launches, anticipated towards the end of 2008.
"Femtocells are fundamental to the future of mobile. They solve the coverage dilemma whilst lowering costs for operators and consumers alike. They pave the way for new mobile services that put the mobile phone at the centre of the connected home, and allow operators to offer improved fixed broadband + mobile bundles." said Axel Kolb, Fund Manager, T-Mobile Venture Fund. "We identified Ubiquisys as the clear leader in this space, with an innovative product, a strong deployment ecosystem, and unique software to enable femtocell-ready applications."
"Femtocells seamlessly join-up mobile phones, home networks and broadband internet for the first time. They also offer mobile operators a completely new method for deploying new network technologies," said Chris Gilbert, CEO of Ubiquisys. "We are delighted to have the support of one of the industry's most prominent venture groups, a company that shares our view of how of femtocells can revolutionise the mobile experience."