Acquisition of license for experimental wireless stations of communication system using femtocell

SOFTBANK Group acquired a license for experimental wireless stations of communication system using femtocell from Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on June 28, 2007. Starting from today, we launch a demonstration experiment toward diversification of information communication service such as FMC, conversion of fixed-line and mobile phone.

Femtocell is a micromini base station for mobile phone which can be installed in small spaces such as homes and offices. By introducing femtocell which is connected through broadband installed at homes and offices such as ADSL and FTTH, indoor users will be able to enjoy further high quality voice and images with existing mobile phone. It also has a characteristic that its electric wave is weak.

With this time demonstration experiments, we will carry out experiments of voice communication, data communication (HSDPA method), video call etc. using test SOFTBANK MOBILE 3G phone and Yahoo! BB. Through these experiments, we will verify the stability of broadband line used as transmission line, the connection method of mobile phone core network, the radio propagation characteristics of femtocell, the coordination method of radio interference with mobile phone network base stations, and performance assessment. We believe this will lead us to improve wireless broadband and IP communication technology and also to develop a variety of information communication service such as FMC.

The SOFTBANK Group aims to contribute to the realization of ubiquitous society by improving the communication technology of next generation network, taking advantage of such know-how and measured data acquired through these experiments.

Overview of demonstration experiment is as follows:

Overview of demonstration experiment

Femtocell

Experiment collaborators (total 8 companies)

ip.access Ltd

ip.access will be showing mobile voice and video calls using its Oyster 3G femtocell system. The proof of concept will include plug-and-play installation and configuration, which makes femtocells easy for consumers to install at home, and for operators to manage. “We are enormously excited that SOFTBANK is taking such a strong lead with femtocells,” said Stephen Mallinson, CEO of ip.access. “Operators all over the world have expressed huge interest in femtocells, but SOFTBANK’s proof of concept tests mark the beginning of a new phase in the development of this technology.”

Motorola Japan Ltd.

Motorola Japan Ltd. provides Horizon 3G-i residential solution. The Horizon 3G-i residential solution is one of the solutions that embody Motorola’ vision of Seamless Mobility. As well as enhancing service quality in small indoor areas such as living spaces, the Home AP enables the provision of value-added services. As a leading wireless broadband company, Motorola also offers comprehensive support, including verification of technological compatibility.

Ubiquisys Limited

Ubiquisys, the market leader in 3G femtocell technology, is supplying its ZoneGate femtocell access point for SOFTBANK’s working demonstration. ZoneGate enables mobile operators to extend 3G coverage in an extremely targeted way, reduce deployment costs, generate new revenue streams and speed up fixed-mobile substitution. Ubiquisys is a privately owned communications company formed in 2004 to develop innovative femtocell solutions using standards based technologies for market leading operators like SOFTBANK.A recent study from ABI Research rated Ubiquisys the number one femtocell vendor of the top ten players in the sector, based on product innovation and implementation.

Alcatel-Lucent

In order to deliver W-CDMA/HSPA service to subscribers in their home or buisness location, Alcatel-Lucent is continually collaborating with SOFTBANK by operating test router (BSR) technology, an innovative platform that combines UMTS radio access and packet core network in a single compact unit. As a global leader in the development and deployment of third generation (3G) networks, Alcatel-Lucent has deployed commercial 3G (UMTS/HSPA and CDMA/EV-DO) systems for more than 70 operators worldwide.

Nippon Ericsson K.K.

Ericsson cherishes the connection between people, and aims to create a new form of communication which would reach people. Along with the development of communication technology tailored to the change of the times, we have been leading the world communication industry, by investing about 15% of our annual sales to the R&D, to develop the leading-edge mobile communication system technology. Starting with the Femto product, introducing this time, we will be contributing to the establishment of new solution proactively.

Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd.

Samsung offers the full suite of advanced future-proof mobile broadband products, and innovates to provide the market edge that our operator customers need. Samsung has been one of the leading mobile broadband technology company, we will continuously contribute to the Femtocell project with our proven technology in the field.

Sonus Networks, Inc.

Sonus Networks is committed to building an all-IP core network that supports all access technologies. With femtocell, Sonus is delivering a broadband mobile convergence solution enabled by a service-rich next generation IP network based on IP-MSC.

NEC Corporation

NEC believes that Femtocell is an extremely promising technology for future NGN/FMC solutions, and it will actively participate in SOFTBANK’s verification system to verify its technology toward early realization.

Reference

FMC

Abbreviation for Fixed Mobile Convergence.
Service which converge fixed-line phone and mobile phone, and one bill and seamless use of one terminal on fixed-line network and mobile phone network will be available.

HSDPA

Abbreviation for High Speed Downlink Packet Access.
Standardized communication method in Release 5 of 3GPP, 3G mobile communication system standards organization.