Operators | // Pocket Picks //

With the mobile web now having reached ‘critical mass’ - according to a report by Neilsen Mobile - the 3G infrastructure is beginning to groan under the weight of all that music downloading and web perusal and mobile operators are having to think about the future.

At the Bristol Wireles 2.0 conference, much was made of Femtocells as a possible way forward. Femtocells are small base stations that allow a standard broadband connection to become a short-range 3G cell.

Thee can be used to extend a 3G network to areas with poor reception or could be used to provide extra bandwidth for areas with larger populations.

Several of the suppliers at the even suggested that next year would see several commercial products being released, and that Vodafone in particular is interested in rolling out femtocell base stations in the street.

Uh-oh. The European Commission has committed to cutting termination charges - the fees that mobile operators charge each other for routing each other’s calls - a move that could result in customers having to pay to receive calls to their mobiles.

Currently, mobile operator charge each other about 7p for each call. The EC want to cut this to around a penny, but mobile operators have threatened to pas the cost on to the customer.

Paying to receive calls is the norm in the USA, but this is not likely to be a popular move over here no we are all used to not paying.

Of course, there is nothing to say that the operators have to pass the cost on, but the EC is refusing to intervene.

“I think the business models are not for the European commissioner to decide.” said a spokesman, “Business models are for the operators to decide.”