Ubiquisys Announces World’s First Attocell: a Personal Femtocell for the iPhone

Allows international travellers to make and receive mobile calls as if in their home country

Ubiquisys Attocell Infographic (Graphic: Business Wire)

SWINDON, England--()--Ubiquisys, the developer of 3G and LTE intelligent cells, today announced the world’s first attocell – a personal femtocell. Designed primarily for people travelling abroad, it enables mobile calls to be made and received as though in their home country. Although developed specifically for the iPhone, the attocell works out of the box with any 3G phone, and has also been tested with Blackberry, Nokia and Android smartphones. Ubiquisys is already in discussions with several mobile operators about the product.

The attocell connects to a user’s laptop via USB, which provides power and an internet connection. It then analyses the IP address and radio environment to determine which country it is in, and sets its 3G radio power accordingly to below the licenced level. In some countries its range will be just 5mm, in other countries, it could cover a whole room.

Like Ubiquisys femtocells, the attocell continuously monitors its radio environment to ensure that there is zero impact on existing mobile networks. This intelligence, combined with its tiny power output, is likely to make the attocell exempt from regulatory controls and the requirement for type approval.

In 5mm mode, the traveller simply lays the iPhone on top of the device and the phone connects automatically, just like a regular femtocell. Calls can be made using a Bluetooth or wired headset, or by using the iPhone’s speaker.

“At Ubiquisys we are constantly developing new ways to harness intelligent cell technology,” said Chris Gilbert, CEO Ubiquisys. “The attocell innovation is a direct response to meet a specific requirement from mobile operators.”

The company will showcase the attocell to customers in Barcelona, at February’s Mobile World Congress, from their hospitality suite AV85.

About Ubiquisys

Ubiquisys is ranked the #1 femtocell vendor by ABI Research Inc, with mass-market commercial deployments including SFR in France and SoftBank Mobile in Japan. The Ubiquisys difference is intelligence: femtocells that continuously listen to their surroundings, making invisible decisions about configuration, application triggers and media interaction. This has led to a unique range of residential femtocells, self-organising femto networks for enterprise, plus rural and metro outdoor femtocells. Its Femto-Engine software system creates a complete ready-to-deploy intelligent cell, providing encapsulated deployment expertise off-the-shelf. Ubiquisys Hardware Blueprints enable manufacturers to rapidly produce low-cost femtocell devices customised to Mobile Operator specifications. Ubiquisys investors include Accel Partners, Advent Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, 5 Continents Consulting Group (5CCG), SerComm Corporation, UMC Capital Corporation and Pacific Venture Partners, T-Mobile Venture Fund and Yasuda Enterprise Development Co. (www.ubiquisys.com)

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Contacts

Temono PR for Ubiquisys
Ed Howson, +44 (0)7740173051
ed.howson@temono.com

Release Summary

Ubiquisys announces world's first attocell - a personal femtocell for the iPhone and other 3G handsets. Allows users travelling abroad to make and receive calls as though in their home country.

Contacts

Temono PR for Ubiquisys
Ed Howson, +44 (0)7740173051
ed.howson@temono.com