AT&T's forthcoming 3G MicroCell is expanding into a second trial market on Monday, but wider distribution is being held up by other factors, including mandated E911 service regulations.
AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom told AppleInsider that the eagerly awaited new femtocell device will expand on Monday from its initial trial market in Charlotte, North Carolina to a second test market in Raleigh, 130 miles northeast as the crow flies.
Though Bloom offered no further comment on the matter, it's believed that deployment progress is being held up by other issues, including E911 ("Enhanced 911"), a service mandated by the Federal Communications Commission which requires phone service operators to supply the physical location of anyone calling 911 for emergency assistance.
A landline caller's location can be determined by simply obtaining the caller's phone number and looking up the account's billing address on file, but a mobile phone user may be calling from anywhere, complicating the task of accurately reporting the caller's position.
AT&T's cellular call towers track the position of callers either by using tower triangulation or by using the phone's internal GPS, enabling the network to report the caller's current position to the "Public Safety Answering Point" where 911 operators handle calls.
A user-deployed femtocell can determine its own location using its own GPS receiver; its users would be within about forty feet of the device. Other femtocell providers simply lock the device to only work at a specific, known location they can report much the same as with landline service.
Existing laws covering E911 service requirements are not always clear; for example, rules concerning functionally identical VoIP and femtocell mobile calls are expressed differently and demand different service standards. Mobile operators often have to request clarification on laws just to make sure any new products adequately meet those standards.
AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom told AppleInsider that the eagerly awaited new femtocell device will expand on Monday from its initial trial market in Charlotte, North Carolina to a second test market in Raleigh, 130 miles northeast as the crow flies.
Though Bloom offered no further comment on the matter, it's believed that deployment progress is being held up by other issues, including E911 ("Enhanced 911"), a service mandated by the Federal Communications Commission which requires phone service operators to supply the physical location of anyone calling 911 for emergency assistance.
A landline caller's location can be determined by simply obtaining the caller's phone number and looking up the account's billing address on file, but a mobile phone user may be calling from anywhere, complicating the task of accurately reporting the caller's position.
AT&T's cellular call towers track the position of callers either by using tower triangulation or by using the phone's internal GPS, enabling the network to report the caller's current position to the "Public Safety Answering Point" where 911 operators handle calls.
A user-deployed femtocell can determine its own location using its own GPS receiver; its users would be within about forty feet of the device. Other femtocell providers simply lock the device to only work at a specific, known location they can report much the same as with landline service.
Existing laws covering E911 service requirements are not always clear; for example, rules concerning functionally identical VoIP and femtocell mobile calls are expressed differently and demand different service standards. Mobile operators often have to request clarification on laws just to make sure any new products adequately meet those standards.
