Following on the heels of Sprint and Verizon, AT&T is set to launch its own femtocell - 3G MicroCell – giving its customers (who pay for a 3G MicroCell plan) unlimited minutes while connected to any MicroCell at home, business, or otherwise.
MicroCell is essentially a personal miniature cell tower that connects to AT&T’s network via your existing broadband connection in order to boost and expand weak network coverage. It has an advertised range of up to 5000 square feet, works with any AT&T 3G device, provides a secure connection, allows for seamless call hand-over (i.e. uninterrupted transition from MicroCell to AT&T cellular network), and can handle up to 4 simultaneous voice or data users at a given time.
As usual, we don’t have any pricing or release information, yet.
[via PhoneNews]
Tell me again why *I* am paying *them* to subsidize and expand *their* lousy network coverage?
Even more pressing why should we pay AT&T so they can use our broadband connect as their backhaul, should AT&T issue me a rebate for installing this device?
Picked this up in Woodbury, MN last night on my iphone 3G running 3.1b3 and none of my wireless services word… switched off 3G and still nothing; I hope this isn’t the standard…. 3+ hours without service.