UK / US : Ubiquisys Ltd and Kineto Wireless announced the successful completion of interoperability testing between the Ubiquisys ZoneGate 3G femtocell    and Kineto’s UMA network controller.   

 This testing represents an important milestone toward enabling mass-market deployment of femtocells.    The testing also demonstrated several key advantages of using UMA, a commercially proven 3GPP standard, as the core network integration approach for femtocells. These advantages include enabling mobile operators to leverage their existing core networks through  standard interfaces to support femtocell deployments, as well as enabling seamless access to all existing core network services using standard 3G handsets.

 ”We’ve always recognised that the key to reliable and cost-effective mass market femtocell deployment is the adoption of a standardised interface between access point and network,” said Will Franks, CTO and co-founder of Ubiquisys. “UMA is tried and tested in the field and provides an efficient 3GPP standards-based protocol for network integration. It is great to see the mobile industry coalescing around UMA as an optimal architecture for femtocell deployment.”

 ”UMA is designed to enable IP devices to connect securely over a broadband DSL connection and cope with the associated latency, jitter and security issues,” said Gary Sarson, Kineto’s vice president of business development. “Our work with Ubiquisys demonstrates that while UMA was initially developed with dual-mode handsets in mind, it also addresses the exact same issues associated with femtocell deployment, offering a reliable integration solution without reinventing the wheel.”

 The Ubiquisys ZoneGate system allows local voice and data to be offloaded in the home, supporting services such as streaming from a media box, while voice and data traffic can be deciphered and manipulated, delivering local call routing and control applications for devices in the home.   

 The Kineto IP-based UNC is an industry- leading carrier class UMA Network Controller (UNC). It is a scalable, cost-effective platform which enables mobile and integrated operators to deliver mobile voice, data and IMS services over broadband access networks.   

 A recent study from ABI Research forecasts that by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.

About UMA Technology

UMA technology is the 3GPP global standard for fixed-mobile convergence.    UMA enables secure, scalable access to mobile voice, data and IMS services over broadband IP access networks.    By deploying UMA technology, mobile operators can deliver a number of compelling fixed-mobile convergence services.    Leading operators around the world have embraced UMA technology as the foundation for their fixed-mobile convergence strategy, including France Telecom/Orange, TeliaSonera, and Telecom Italia.