TechNewsWorld's Gene J. Koprowski reports that mobile phone operators are reponding to the competitive threat offered by free Wi-Fi by adding new technologies to their offerings.

Small cellular base stations called femtocells, Koprowski reports, are being adopted as a way for customers to improve service in specific locations and to build platforms for fixed-mobile convergence.

"Femtocells offer many benefits to operators," says ABI Research analyst Stuart Carlaw. A new report from ABI predicts that there will be 102 million femtocell users on 32 million access points worldwide within the next four years.

"On a conceptual basis, femtocells allow carriers to aggressively price cellular data services in the home, with the ultimate goal of shaping consumer behavior," Carlaw says.

ABI's press release is here.