Telecom operators around the globe have sped up the installation of femtocell networking equipment in order to expand their FMC (fixed mobile convergence) services – a move that is expected to generate a great deal of business opportunities for Taiwan networking device makers, Digitimes Research said in a recently held technology seminar.

The installation of femtocell networking equipment not only allows telecom operators to avoid huge investment in core networks amid the rising uncertainty of global economic conditions, but also helps strengthen their ARPU (average revenues per user) through the offering of FMC services, said Digitimes Research.

A number of telecom operators in the US, France, Singapore and Japan have pioneered FMC services, added Digitimes Research, noting that T-Mobile USA in the US and Orange in France have dramatically enhanced their mobile business through FMC services.

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the largest telecom carrier in Taiwan, has said that it plans to launch trial femtocell services starting the fourth quarter of this year.

In view of the increasing popularity of femtocell, Digitimes Research further pointed out that most leading telecom equipment makers, including Samsung Electronics, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, NEC, LG Nortel and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), have all begun producing femtocell equipment to cash in on the rising demand.

Consequently, Taiwan's network-equipment makers, including Zyxel Communications, Alpha Networks, Sercomm, and Tecom, who have mostly established mutual business relations with those branded telecom equipment vendors, have also committed R&D projects to the development and production of femtocell devices.

In addition, branded consumer networking device vendors such as Netgear and Linksys (a unit of Cisco Systems) have also begun venturing into the femtocell segment, providing additional femtocell business opportunities for Taiwan makers, Digitimes Research concluded.