Q&A with Will Frank, CTO and Co-founder of Ubiquisys

Ubiquisys is a privately owned communications company formed in 2004 to bring ZoneGate femtocell technology to market.

Can you tell me a bit about Ubiquisys?

The communications industry all too often creates products in search of a market. Ubiquisys products are a direct response to consumer and operator demand. Operators know that seizing in-building, home-zone minutes-of-use is the key to preventing churn and gaining marketshare. This is why our technology is attracting so much interest right across the industry. Our ZoneGate femtocell is a small plug-and-play device that connects to a user's broadband gateway to provide first-rate mobile coverage in the home. The product integrates seamlessly with the operator’s core network using a range of open standards, such as UMA and SIP/IMS and employs a Java services environment to run a wide range of value added applications.

How do you currently see the femtocell space in terms of market maturity and start-ups vs traditional OEMs?

There is currently an interesting mix of companies in this space. There are the major vendors, - the picocell players - who are scaling down their solutions for the femto market and then there are femtocell specialists like us. Anyone who understands the technology appreciates the scale of the challenges facing both types of vendor.

In terms of maturity, I think there’s still some work to be done in terms of getting significant volume of fully commercial product into homes. However, the operators tell us Ubiquisys is ahead of the game. We already have our solution working with self configuration, radio management and interoperability with both SIP/IMS and UMA interfaces. The product is already testing with a number of major operators and we expect to see the first commercial deployments later this year.

How would you characterise your strengths in this market?

I’d say we’ve been thought leaders in this market and to a considerable degree the development of our product has helped define the agenda for the sector. There’s nothing especially surprising about this. We came in at the very beginning and right from the start listened to the needs of operators and their customers. It’s why our offering is totally in synch with market demand. We’re also working with extremely strong and innovative partners and backed by very experienced investors. In addition to this, we’ve always been utterly committed to a standards based approach to integration – once again, this is completely in tune with what the operator community is demanding. 

Can you tell me a little more about how big a part you see services playing in the femtocell space?

The initial business case for femtocells was very much focused on solving the in-building coverage issue and I think this remains central to operator demands for the products. However services represent an equally exciting revenue opportunity for mobile operators. With the ZoneGate you not only have a Java services environment, but also a trusted billing and payment mechanism via the SIM-card. The ability to deliver applications to the box which can provide content and services which can then be billed for is really quite exciting. It opens up a range of service possibilities from delivering pay-per view media to home automation and I think we’ll see a range of other new services in the coming months.

What do you think are the key operator drivers in femtocell deployments?

I think there are a number of factors driving operator interest. Cost effective in-building 3G coverage is obviously the big issue but there are a number of other considerations. These include using femtocells as a method for first phase deployment of next generation networks (such as HSPA and LTE) and also as a method for effectively offering quadplay services to subscribers.

Why do you think open standards are important for the femtocell industry?

I think open standards are key to the success of femto technologies. As in pretty much any area of the telecoms value chain, using open industry standards always delivers a better, more robust and scalable solution than proprietary closed offerings. It allows an operator to source components from a range of vendors, so leading to competition on price and efficiency, without getting locked into a single vendor model.

Finding an effective way to help drive and develop those standards was one of the main reasons Ubiquisys conceived and put up the funds to kick-start the Femto Forum, which is holding its first Plenary the day before Avren’s Home Access & Femtocell conference on 2 July in London.

What do you see as being the biggest challenges to the femtocell industry?

I’d say standards and health concerns currently represent the two greatest challenges. As I was saying earlier, having open industry standards in place for integrating femtocells into operators networks is to the benefit of the entire industry. Also on the health concerns front, I think that there is a degree of consumer reassurance and education which is required in order to avoid misinformation and scaremongering like the current situation surrounding WiFi. Both of these issues will be central aims of the Femto Forum organisation when it launches.

What is the aim of the Femto Forum and how did it come about?

I came up with the idea of the Femto Forum in order to help drive the market forward, both in terms of educating operators and consumers but also to foster both standardisation and partnerships between different elements of the value chain. The level of interest in the Forum that we are already seeing from both the vendor and operator communities is testament to the value of this approach and I’m looking forward to the inaugural meeting at the Avren conference on July 2nd.

How do you feel about the level of hype which is currently surrounding the femtocell market?

I’ve been working on femtocells for the past 3 years and it’s certainly been noticeable that the level of noise in the industry has stepped up a couple of gears in the past six months. Whilst it will be hard to live up the hype, it’s certainly one of the most interesting and fast paced areas in telecoms today. The combination of what is effectively infrastructure hardware but on a handset development timescale certainly keeps us on our toes!