Fierce Wireless reports that CLEAR reseller Comcast is executing on their plan to test WiMAX femtocells.

"Comcast confirmed that it is currently testing WiMAX femtocells, actions that hint at an expanded wireless broadband effort on the part of the nation's largest cable provider. The news does not necessarily come as a surprise. Last year, Unstrung reported that part of Comcast's deal with Clearwire (Comcast resells Clearwire's mobile WiMAX service) calls for 5 MHz of spectrum across the U.S. to be set aside solely for WiMAX femtocells--and that Comcast was gearing up for a trial. That Comcast is in the midst of a trial simply indicates it is executing on its WiMAX plans. Further, the effort apparently remains in the early stages; a commercial WiMAX femtocell deployment likely won't happen until next year--if at all--according to one person familiar with the situation."

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/comcast-testing-wimax-femtocell...

Opinion: We think this is great news for the WiMAX eco-system in the U.S. It means that there is movement underway to extend WiMAX use to within the home via femtocells as well as WiFi. This would enable Comcast to deliver its future On-Demand On-line video service over mobile WiMAX, perhaps with a higher quality of service.

Meanwhile, ABI Research is downgrading its projections for the device shipments by 55 percent. In April, the firm said that 790,000 femtocells would be shipped this year. Lopping off 55 percent cuts the number to 350,000. ABI also sliced its estimates for 2010 by 40 percent and for 2014 by 10 percent.

“Even femtocell vendors are a bit surprised that the operators haven’t pushed femtocells as much or as soon as expected,” says practice director Aditya Kaul. “We expect that deployments in 2010 will pick up but will be slower than expected – our data suggests about a 40% reduction on previous estimates.”

All the large operators in the US have femtocell offerings including AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Vodafone in the UK also has a femtocell service and recently China Unicom announced its femto offering.

Still the pace of adoption has been slow. Why? Carriers are tight-lipped about their reasoning. While some observers say femtocells have yet to prove their value, Kaul points to a combination of other factors: the general economic malaise, which makes the $150 pricetag of an unsubsidized femtocell harder to swallow; the time operators need to get their systems and networks ready for a femtocell deployment and to devise innovative pricing plans; a fear in some quarters that a rapid increase in femtocell numbers would cause interference in the macro network.

http://www.abiresearch.com/press/1544-2009+Femtocell+Shipment+Numbe...

What do you think is the outlook for WiMAX femtocells?