Sprint Upgrades Femtos to EV-DO, IMS-Ready

In a move that would allow it to hook its femtocell footprint into its IMS architecture, Sprint-Nextel Corp. has signed a deal to use Airvana Inc.’s HubBub EV-DO femtocells.

The mini-base stations known as femtos are typically deployed in the home to improve indoor coverage for cellular service. They also improve network capacity for operators by taking advantage of a subscriber’s broadband modem to provide backhaul. Sprint, which launched commercially with femtos nationwide last year, has been using equipment that targeted mainly voice communications; by upgrading to femtos that support 3G EV-DO, data services will now get a boost as well.

To boot, the HubBub uses SIP as well as legacy protocols, meaning it can communicate directly with an IMS infrastructure, paving the way for blended and fixed-mobile convergence services with ramifications for consumers and business users alike.