T-Mobile Venture Fund Makes Investment In Femtocell Tech Firm Ubiquisys

Deutsche Telekom's VC arm T-Mobile Venture Fund has made an undisclosed strategic investment in British femtocell technology firm Ubiquisys. The firm creates technology that could potentially improve signal coverage, while at the same time lowering costs for both operators and consumers. Its product is the size of a "paperback book," that connects to a home's broadband connection. Consumers get high-speed 3G coverage using their existing handset, as well as low-cost voice and data services in the home. Operators, meanwhile, can use them to bundle mobile and fixed broadband services. T-Mobile Venture expects the first commercial launches of femtocells at around the end of the year. The four year old company is also backed by Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Accel Partners, Advent Venture Partners and Atlas Venture. In the UK, both Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and O2 are conducting separate trials of femtocell technology (Ubiquisys release. T-Mobile release).