2Wire and Rosum have announced a partnership to integrate Rosum's TV+GPS in-building timing and location solution into 2Wire femtocell products. Rosum's TV+GPS technology provides a reliable and cost effective means of communicating accurate location and timing data with the mobile carrier's macro network, which is critical for femtocell functionality and compliance with E9-1-1 regulations.

By utilizing terrestrial television signals, whether analog, digital, or mobile, Rosum technology is able to provide accurate in-home location information, where current GPS solutions are hindered. Given the near-ubiquity of television signals, service providers worldwide will be able to leverage this technology for their femtocell location needs.

A femtocell is a miniature cellular base station specifically designed for self-installable use in the home. It communicates with the mobile carrier's network through the subscriber's own broadband connection, delivering near fixed-line service levels for voice quality, and virtually eliminating disruptions related to poor cellular coverage, such as dropped calls.

According to ABI Research, the installed base of femtocells could reach nearly 70 million by 2012, serving more than 150 million users.

"Rosum was founded to solve the problems associated with finding locations in indoor and urban environments. TV+GPS technology does that in any environment, while providing seamless coverage indoors and outdoors," said Skip Speaks, Rosum CEO. "The integration of TV+GPS into 2Wire femtocell products will allow us to serve the needs of both mobile phone carriers and users of femtocell products."

"Rosum's TV+GPS technology is one of the strongest solutions available for providing accurate timing and location, and it also provides the best value among competing technologies," said Ted Fagenson, executive vice president of corporate marketing and business development for 2Wire.

"Our femtocell products with TV+GPS will give our telco partners around the world a way to provide superior cellular voice and data coverage to their subscribers, while reducing the need for additional infrastructure."

2Wire plans to offer femtocells with integrated TV+GPS technology for operator testing by late 2008, with commercial availability by mid-2009.