Bad reception indoors? DiGi offers FemtoCell for Business Users

Telcos have been shouting about wider mobile coverage and most of them have embarked on a network upgrade exercise to keep up with growing demand. Despite that, there are users that struggle with mobile black spots. A situation where reception is just so bad that you can’t even make or receive basic phone calls. There are a lot of factors that causes this including distance from the nearest base station as well as infrastructure of a building which hampers signal performance.

Now you can take matters to your own hands (sort of), as DiGi is introducing FemtoCell for DiGi Business users. If you’re wondering what FemtoCell is, it is basically your very own base station that runs on your existing internet connection.

The device itself looks like your typical WiFi router and it provides a dedicated mobile coverage as long there’s internet connectivity. It can support up to 8 mobile users with a coverage area of up to 20 metres. DiGi will be offering it for free for business users but details of its actual offering is still lacking right now.

This isn’t the first Femtocell offering in Malaysia as Maxis too has something similar that’s called Sure Signal. There are 2 options available – a 4-channel FemtoCell that supports 4 users up to 10 metres and a 8-channel FemtoCell that supports 8 users up to 20 metres.

For Maxis, their Sure Signal solution requires a fixed internet connection with at least 1Mbps download and 512kbps upload. If the connection speed drops, the call quality would be affected as well. Phone calls and SMS made while connected will be charged according to your mobile plan. Do note that FemtoCell usage would utilise your home/office fixed broadband internet as it constantly connects to mobile network. It would use at least 350MB while idling and it could go over 1GB/month if 20 calls are made per day (based on average of 2 minutes per call).

If you’re interested, just participate in their survey and they will contact you once it is available.

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