Vodafone UK (VOD) reportedly rebranded and drastically cut the price of its femtocell (mini base station) product in an effort to boost customer adoption. The telecom giant has renamed its femtocell offering to Sure Signal from the earlier moniker Access Gateway to make it more relevant to the device’s functionality (improving wireless signal).
 
Vodafone became the first carrier in Europe to commercially launch a femtocell product leapfrogging over its main rival Telefonica (TEF), which is currently conducting trial runs through its subsidiary O2 in Europe. The company launched Access Gateway in the UK in July 2009 with a fixed price tag of £ 160 (US$261).
 
Starting January 18, 2010, Vodafone Sure Signal (built by Sagem) will be sold at a fixed price of £50 (US$82) or at a monthly rental of £5 (US$8) per month for 12 months with monthly price plans of £25 (US$41) or more. For monthly plans below £25, Sure Signal costs £120 (US$196) or £5 per month for 24 months.
 
Besides individual customers, Vodafone is offering Sure Signal to small businesses at a fixed charge of £42.56 (US$70) or £4.26 (US$7) per month for 12 months with price plans of £21.26 (US$35) or more. For plans less than £21.26, the device costs £102 (US$167) for outright purchase or £4.26 (US$7) per month for 24 months. The prices exclude value-added tax.
 
As part of its new promotional initiatives, Vodafone has revamped its back office system to offer greater customer convenience. This has automated the process of registering customer phone numbers (via web service portal) with Sure Signal, which was previously done manually by femtocell users. 
 
Femtocell is a mini cell tower which connects to the service provider’s network using broadband and is aimed at improving indoor network coverage (as much as 5,000 square feet), providing low-cost unlimited in-home voice calling plan and reducing monthly communication expenditure. In the US, Femtocell is offered by Tier-1 carriers such as Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and Sprint Nextel (S). Femtocell services used by 3G mobile subscribers are projected to generate revenues of approximately $9 billion by 2014.
 
Sure Signal, which supports all 3G enabled handsets, is designed to boost indoor call reception supporting four handsets at a time (out of 32 registered handsets). The femtocell product is aimed at fostering greater use of Vodafone’s services in home setting through improved indoor coverage and extended mobile usage. The carrier’s latest move to offer hefty subsidies coupled with promotional efforts is expected to entice more customers to adopt Sure Signal.
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