In 2008, 2Wire will be offering a DSL residential gateway with a little more than just the standard home networking functionality. The company will support F/MC by building a miniature cellular base station into its product, better known as a femtocell. Such products allow users to get extended cellular voice and data coverage right in their homes, sending data to the mobile carrier over the DSL connection (and keeping the mobile carrier’s towers free for truly mobile patrons).
The initial 2Wire HomePortal BaseStation product will have either UMTS or EV-DO support. 2Wire gateways are available from DSL providers like AT&T, Embarq, BT and others.