HSL Femtocells Donation to Fix Mobile "Not-Spots"

Edinburgh, Scotland, 10th February 2011

In response to the recent Ofcom report "Mobile not-spots", which looks into the poor level of mobile coverage in some parts of the UK, HSL - the Edinburgh-based mobile infrastructure and services vendor - is today offering to Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange a donation of 100 femtocells to each operator for use with their own networks. The purpose of the donation is to encourage mobile operators to focus on addressing mobile coverage issues experienced by the many individuals and business mobile users throughout the UK who experience poor mobile service in their homes and offices.

The Ofcom report states that mobile coverage is an increasingly important factor in enabling participation in society. Mobiles are commonly used as part of keeping in contact with social networks of friends and family through voice calls, text messages and social networking websites. The scale of not-spots in the UK is significant with 29% of the population in Wales either having no mobile coverage at all or having only one mobile operator available. In Northern Ireland this figure is 28%, Scotland it is 21% and England it is 4%. Such poor mobile coverage not only raises concerns over social inclusion but also of consumer choice, where consumers have no choice between mobile operators. The extent of consumer dissatisfaction with mobile coverage has also been reported by those registering their interest in the HSL Femtocell on the www.femtonow.com website operated by HSL.

While credit should be given to Vodafone in the UK for coming to market with a femtocell solution aimed at improving the coverage of 3G users, such a solution is not suitable for use by subscribers who have a 2G mobile, comprising around 50% of Vodafone's subscribers. Such solutions leave 2G mobile subscribers who do not wish to upgrade to 3G handsets, or be locked into a mobile contract for a further long period of time, without a solution to their coverage issue.

The HSL Femtocells being donated support both 2G and 3G subscribers, enabling all subscribers using the femtocell to enjoy mobile services such as voice, SMS and fast data where the femtocell is located.

For further information, including any operator wishing to take up this offer, please contact Lynne Prowse, COO on +44 (0)1506 605260.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The HSL Femtocell works with a broadband Internet connection speed of at least 256kbps compared with a minimum requirement of 1Mbps for the Vodafone "Sure Signal" 3G femtocell. A femtocell with a lower broadband Internet connection speed requirement will (i) allow mobile calls to be clearer (when Internet connection is simultaneously being used by femtocell and separately for surfing) than for mobile calls via a femtocell with higher minimum speed requirements and (ii) use in rural areas where broadband connection speeds may be lower.

GSM 2G/2.5G/2.75G femtocells allow mobile service to be provided to both 2G and 3G subscribers. This ability is not available with 3G femtocells, which are only capable of providing mobile service to 3G subscribers. All GSM mobile telephones have the ability to use 2G or 3G networks and by default are configured by their mobile operator to use a 2G network when no 3G network is available.

Ofcom (2010). Mobile not-spots - an update on our research. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/telecoms-research/mobile-not-spots/

HSL Femtocell. Background information. http://www.haysystems.com/femtocell/