SFR has started offering its "SFR Femto" femtocell free of charge to all of its mobile customers who request it online. Customers pay EUR 49 up front, which is reimbursed as soon as they connect the box. SFR will offer the product in all of its stores in the middle of October. SFR Femto plugs into most broadband modems on the market to relay the 3G+ signal in the home, regardless of ISP. Once in place, up to five SFR mobile customers can use it for voice, SMS, e-mail and internet access from their handset over the broadband connection. SFR introduced the first femtocells to France in 2009. Newcomer Free Mobile, which will launch in January 2012, has promised to offer femtocells to its customers free of charge. SFR is using UK 3G/LTE small cells developer Ubiquisys' femtocell technology. The operator is also piloting its Auto Connect WiFi software with 9,000 participants in three French counties and intends to launch it countrywide soon. It allows users to connect automatically to SFR's Wi-Fi network of over 4 million hotspots, including those of customers who opt-in to make their broadband router's Wi-Fi access public. The software enables completely automatic seamless switching between the 3G+ network and Wi-Fi, when available.
