China's Huawei Technologies has helped StarHub, a telecom operator in Singapore, deploy the world's first commercial 3G femtocell network.

A 3G femtocell is a portable wireless access device that connects 3G mobile handsets directly to a standard broadband DSL or cable service to provide mobile voice and date coverage in the home and office environment. Femtocells are particularly useful for areas where broadband access would otherwise be limited or unavailable. Huawei has now deployed a total of 21 pre-commercial and trial femtocell networks across the world.

Huawei's femtocell solution enables end-users to enjoy high-speed wireless data services indoors such as streaming video, IPTV, video conferencing and mobile broadband. Femtocells are also important for operators to implement a full-service operation strategy in this new era of network convergence.

With the fast development of 3G services, femtocells are gaining momentum driven by top-tier telecom operators including Vodafone, Telefonica, TI, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon.