If are worried about the hefty roaming bills on your iPhone while you are on international travel, there’s good news for you – Ubiquisys on Wednesday unveiled a new portable device that will allow people to make cell phone calls in other countries without relying on local 3G networks. Dubbed as the “attocell“, this personal femtocell is a [...]
If are worried about the hefty roaming bills on your iPhone while you are on international travel, there’s good news for you – Ubiquisys on Wednesday unveiled a new portable device that will allow people to make cell phone calls in other countries without relying on local 3G networks. Dubbed as the “attocell“, this personal femtocell is a dream come true for enterprise iPhone users as it provides anytime, anywhere internet access at the fraction of a cost.
Though attocell works just as well with any 3G phone, Ubiquisys has sized the box to physically align well with the iPhone. The device is programmed to detect its IP address and radio frequency on startup so that it can automatically adjust the radio power to the locally allowed level.
The trick is to create a 3G connectivity channel which routes voice and data back across the Internet, so users can use their phone just as at home, without paying for roaming. When users make a call using their iPhone device, it is routed using HSDPA to the station after which the data is transferred over a USB cable to a laptop connected to the Internet. While international calls routed through attocell won’t be free, it would still be much lower than roaming calls.
Mind you, attocell isn’t a personal Wi-Fi Hotspot. It uses your iPhone’s 3G connectivity, but instead of connecting your device to a roaming carrier network, it routes your calls through the built-in mini base station.
Several carriers including AT&T, Sprint and Verizon already sell femtocell services, however most of these are limited to nation-wide calling. Therefore, attocell is one of the promising solutions for business travelers outside their home country looking to find a cheap or free Wi-Fi hotspot in order to avoid 3G data roaming charges.
Though Ubiquisys advertises attocell only for the iPhone, it works just as well with any other 3G smartphone – Android, Blackberry, Nokia and others.
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