Comcast has revealed some of their WiMAX strategy. They plan to aggressively use femtocell technology to deliver seamless mobility services to residential subscribers, and expect to achieve 8 Mbps in throughput. The Clearwire partnership which Comcast and other cable companies invested in will set aside 5 Mhz of spectrum for femtocells. Femtocells create a mini wireless base station (or cell tower) in the home and can route wireless voice calls and data sessions originating on mobile and portable devices through it. The goal is to provide better in home wireless coverage for mobile devices, thus offering wireless voice services that can conceivably rival Comcast’s wireline IP voice service. Comcast sees femtocells as a key wireless strategy for them, because their customer base is primarily residential customers. Light Reading’s Cable Digital News revealed the Comcast femtocell strategy. Dave Williams, Comcast’s senior VP for wireless and technology was quoted in the Light Reading article as saying, “We’ll be pushing WiMax femtocells because we have a good customer base in the home -- we sell HDTV, VOIP, and high-speed Internet connectivity. We want to take that experience in the home and add mobility.”

The revelation is a peak into an interesting competitive development. Comcast and their WiMAX cable brethren intend to maximize their Clearwire investment to offer a suite of wireless services that they hope will rival their telecom competitors. By using femtocells, in theory at least, they can leverage their own broadband network with Clearwire and create a mobility experience that won’t falter once a subscriber enters their home. By so doing, Comcast can now offer seamless mobility, in and out of the home, and also appeal to customers who want to (or already have) cut the wireline cord and aren’t interested in a traditional triple play service. The service is a long way off. The femtocells will need to go through the WiMAX certification process, which could take months or even years.

Sprint unveiled a consumer-targeted femtocell base station for use with all of their CDMA handsets today. Femtocell strategies aim to improve indoor wireless coverage, and may help to accelerate wireless substitution for traditional landlines. The Sprint femtocell product, Airave, is manufactured by Samsung, and routes mobile handset calls through the customer's home broadband connection. Sprint will sell the Airave for $50 with a monthly price tag of $15/individual or $30/family plan, and has launched the platform in Denver and Indianapolis initially. The monthly fees cover unlimited calling through the femtocell platform.

One hurdle for many consumers aiming to ditch their landline completely in favor of wireless "only" service has been poor wireless coverage within their home. If femtocells prove to be effective, that hurdle is now removed. Ajit Bhatia, director of product management for Sprint commented, “…with unlimited in-home wireless calling, the AIRAVE makes it even more convenient for customers to rely on their Sprint phones at home." Maybe convenient enough to no longer need a landline.

One continuing frustration in the early on use of mobile wireless data offerings is poor indoor coverage. Sprint recognizes this and is studying Femtocell technology for their pending 4G WiMAX roll out. Femtocells are basically low power, low cost mini wireless base stations that are deployed within buildings (and potentially subscriber homes) to boost indoor wireless coverage. Sprint recognizes that a key competitive advantage for their forthcoming WiMAX network could be superior indoor coverage.

Read this Unstrung analysis of Sprint’s research.