Mobile speeds would dramatically increase if consumers connected small, public base stations to their home broadband

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Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and some U.S. wireless carriers are investigating an idea that would see small cellular base stations installed in homes to serve passing smartphone users. That approach is believed to be a more efficient way of meeting the rising demand for data and fixing patchy coverage than building more traditional cell-phone towers.

Qualcomm has calculated that bandwidth offered this way could be cheaper than the cost of providing it with additional conventional towers. However, a broadband provider would have to deploy technology to guarantee people that home Internet bandwidth wouldn’t suffer from overuse by nearby mobile phone users.

NBF- Clearly anyone willing to offer public base stations would not have any data caps on their home broadband.

Many major carriers are rolling out public Wi-Fi hotspots and other services to defray the load on their towers, points out Garner, “but over time, there may also be a need to use small cells, which use different spectrum, giving more capacity.”

The signal from the small, private cellular base stations (red squares) some consumers have in this San Diego neighborhood could offer strong coverage to the whole area if made available to any subscriber.

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Mobile speeds would dramatically increase if consumers connected small, public base stations to their home broadband

by

Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and some U.S. wireless carriers are investigating an idea that would see small cellular base stations installed in homes to serve passing smartphone users. That approach is believed to be a more efficient way of meeting the rising demand for data and fixing patchy coverage than building more traditional cell-phone towers.

Qualcomm has calculated that bandwidth offered this way could be cheaper than the cost of providing it with additional conventional towers. However, a broadband provider would have to deploy technology to guarantee people that home Internet bandwidth wouldn’t suffer from overuse by nearby mobile phone users.

NBF- Clearly anyone willing to offer public base stations would not have any data caps on their home broadband.

Many major carriers are rolling out public Wi-Fi hotspots and other services to defray the load on their towers, points out Garner, “but over time, there may also be a need to use small cells, which use different spectrum, giving more capacity.”

The signal from the small, private cellular base stations (red squares) some consumers have in this San Diego neighborhood could offer strong coverage to the whole area if made available to any subscriber.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks