Femtocells 'enhance IP PBX'

IP PBX solutions could greatly benefit from a new technology called femtocells, according to a company which develops them.

Mark Keenan, general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa at RadioFrame Networks, explained on SME Web that femtocells are small indoor mobile base stations.

They act in the same way as a mobile phone mast but on a much lesser scale, so they can be used within a business or a home.

He predicted that they will become "widespread within a few years", as people look for improved coverage and more bandwidth from their mobiles.

"For instance, when used for mobile internet and mobile VoIP, picocells and femtocells can enable users to reduce expensive mobile phone call costs by using their mobilebroadband IP connections," he explained.

"Femtocells could be used to enhance IP PBX services by providing a mobilePBX layer and eventually, could even offer an alternative to fixed-line PBXs and one day, even LANS."

American telecommunications company AT&T recently announced that it was testing the technology and will begin putting the product into trial markets in 2009.