MOBILE

Ever hear of a femtocell? No it's not a woman-activist's smallest unit of life. AT&T is hoping the word will become much more common in months to come. Femtocells are small boxes that beam low-power wireless signals to cell phones and relay them back to the carrier through the subscriber's high-speed Internet connection. They are, in essence, miniature cellular towers right inside the home.

AT&T is testing technology to improve cell phone signal strength in subscribers' homes and plans to make this tech available in a trial market next year.
Competitor Sprint launched femtocells under the brand name Airave last year. Verizon Wireless has claimed to appreciate the femtocells concept for their own applications. T-Mobile has taken a different route entirely by selling phones that can connect calls over Wi-Fi routers.

AT&T is looking at femtocells that provide full cellular broadband 3G speeds. Sprint's femtocells are currently for voice and low-speed data connections.