Motorola has completed end-to-end testing of its 3G femtocell solution and has begun trialing its solution with a major European operator, the company announced today.

Femtocells enable operators to provide higher-quality and higher-performance wireless voice and real-time data services to their customers inside their homes. In addition, they enable a significantly lower cost of delivery for wireless traffic, in comparison to the macrocell network. For consumers, the benefits of femtocells include a seamless communication experience as they roam from inside to outside their homes, reduced “in-home” call charges, improved indoor coverage and consolidated billing, all from their existing 3G handsets.

"In Europe, 30 to 40 percent of the cellular traffic is generated from inside the home.  Femtocells provide a more efficient way for operators to manage traffic generated indoors, compared to the outdoor macrocells of the public cellular infrastructure," commented Vincent Poulbere, principal analyst, Ovum. "In Western Europe, we forecast that 12 million femtocells will be deployed in 2010 rising to 17 million in 2011."