Currently, Sprint has launched it's Airave product using a Samsung Femto cell. This product is only available in Denver, Indianapolis and Durham, North Carolina. I've been told by someone at RadioShack that Sprint plans to take this nationwide in March, but have no confirmation of that.
I think these in-home cell sites are going to be huge. They have the ultimate one-two punch for operators. They add capacity where the cell phone networks need it most - in peoples' homes and the suburbs. Second, for in-home voice calls, these cell sites free up spectrum for operators by adding a microsite in the home that uses the home internet connection (cable/DSL) for sending and receiving calls.
From a consumer standpoint, they now have much better call quality in their home. No longer will they need to go to the window in the corner of the house facing the tower to be able to talk at home. Moreover, the smart move for operators is to couple this move with an aggressive in-home calling package. It's the ultimate landline replacement. Some of the operators are no doubt thinking about unlimited calling plans along the lines of Leap and MetroPCS, but network capacity would be a huge issue as usage would likely nearly double. Much of this incremental usage would likely be at home where customers would opt to use their mobile phones for all calls, and would be on their "home cell site" where it doesn't use the wide area cell phone network.
Sprint has already rolled out this unlimited calling plan for $15 per line that uses it. If you believe as I do that the voice market is gradually moving towards unlimited calling for a flat rate, I suspect that one of the operators will start bundling these home cell sites with their core service. You buy the equipment and the calling is free - for you and for your neighbors. These will be the cheapest cell sites that the carriers have ever deployed and I can finally make calls from my kitchen!
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