NEC announced the deployment of its femtocell solution by French operator SFR, which becomes the first operator to launch femtocell services throughout France.
NEC is providing SFR with an end-to-end femtocell solution which includes a compact indoor femto access point to be installed in the customers premises, the femtocell gateway, which aggregates and connects several access points to the core network, and the management systems for the access point and the gateway.
The installation of the femtocell access point in the customers premises involves plugging in the femto access point to the broadband router and to the power supply much like the installation of any broadband home gateway product. 
The low-power femto access point will provide a dedicated 3G network indoors for personal use by customers. The enhanced coverage will improve the customer experience for both voice and data services, says NEC. The dedicated capacity will help customers to experience high data rates on their handsets and their 3G-enabled laptops.
Along with providing benefits to operator customers, the femtocell network helps operators reduce CAPEX associated with macro cell equipment and OPEX costs in the backhaul network. The increased standard of service delivery will also help improve customer loyalty and creates new network capacity wherever it is needed.
Its been an exciting year for femtocell and were delighted to be involved in some of the first commercial deployments in Europe and other parts of the world, says NEC France President and CEO, Michel Lignon,. SFR is one of the first to implement a femtocell network in Europe and were seeing the technology change the economic and deployment models for networks, as well as providing superior levels of service for consumers. This carrier is leading the way and soon we will see the femtocell form part of all operators core offerings.
NEC was among the first providers to offer a complete femtocell solution. In June 2009, NEC won the Progress in Commercial Deployment Femto Forum Femtocell Award. The company has four commercial contracts in place, both enterprise and consumer, and several femtocell trials underway with operators around the world.