Price of GSM/3G base stations
Price of GSM/3G base stations
Posted Sep 30, 2010 6:44 UTC (Thu) by Cato (guest, #7643)In reply to: GSM security testing: where the action is by Cyberax
Parent article: GSM security testing: where the action is
You may be right - the main costs probably can't be avoided, such as amplifiers, power supply, etc. According to this research a few years ago, a UMTS 3G base station (presumably a macrocell, i.e. a normal "cell phone tower" for GSM-family 3G) costs $24,000: http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2007/02/the_...
The test would be whether WiMAX base stations are cheaper, as they are built in a more "commodity" way - if GSM becomes more open it would be possible to build GSM base stations like that.
UMTS femtocells are very cheap (there are few if any GSM femtocells) with a consumer price of $70-$150 - I bought mine for $70 new off eBay.