The idea of femtocell products are fascinating. They essentially are mini cell phone towers that use your broadband to communicate with the wireless carrier while presenting what appears to be a normal cell phone tower to the cell phone. This means it can work with any compatible cell phone, but it’s still an unproven technology.
It looks like we’re going to get to see this technology in action. Sprint has announced they are making AIRAVE available in select areas of Denver and Indianapolis. The device will cost $49.99 and you’ll have to add $15 per month to your cell phone service ($30 for multi-line accounts). You’ll get unlimited calling while connected to your AIRAVE, though, which is a bonus.
Personally, I think cell phone companies should be giving these things away free with a two year contract. Paying for the sole purpose of improving a companies piss-poor cell phone network on an ongoing basis just seems silly to me. Especially if they are going to use my Internet bandwidth to do it. However, let me know what you think in the comments.