We've already seen AT&T's 3G MicroCell picked up by a few desperate Charlotteans, but for those residing in North Carolina's only city to own a professional sports championship (sorry, Panthers), their time has finally come to secure what just might be the most anticipated femtocell debut in the states. You heard right -- Raleigh, NC has become AT&T's second test market for the device you're peering at above, and starting today, those in and around the Triangle can procure one from their local store. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance to give the unit a go, so feel free to hop on past the break if you're on the hunt for a few more impressions.

For those who missed the torrent of 3G MicroCell news yesterday, here's the long and short of it: the Cisco-built device is now on sale, but only in Charlotte, North Carolina. One fortunate Charlottean managed to scoop one up, but rather than keeping the experience to himself, he decided to bang out a full review for the rest of the world to see. By and large, Jason's experience with the femtocell mirrored our own with Sprint's AIRAVE. Installation and setup was a breeze, and once it was booted up and operational, it worked like a charm. Before picking this up, he was seeing one bar of EDGE (if he was lucky); afterwards, his entire house was blanketed with five bars of 3G. Not surprisingly, he noted that the before and after difference when fielding calls was "night and day," but he did take the opportunity to bark at the lofty $150 price tag. But hey, those desperate enough will cough up anything to actually use their phone, right?

It's sort of outrageous how much publicity AT&T's very own femtocell has garnered here lately, particularly when you realize that it's limited to the Charlotte, North Carolina area alone. But look -- did you really expect us to pass up what appears to be the very first unboxing of the 3G MicroCell? No, you didn't. Hit the read link if you're somehow not quite past the point of saturation, and be sure to have a peek past the break for an unexpected treat.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Gearlog has scooped pricing details on AT&T's entry into the up-and-coming femtocell market, the 3G MicroCell, where it's currently undergoing a public market trial in Charlotte, North Carolina -- and basically, it's a decent deal as long as you don't want unlimited calling. Stores are charging $150 for the unit itself and service is free (similar to Verizon's model, though Verizon charges $100 more upfront and the unit doesn't do 3G); if you want to tack on unlimited calling, you're paying another $20 a month unless you have some combination of AT&T landline or DSL service at your address. $20 is properly insane, though in exchange, the carrier throws you a bone with a $100 rebate on the device. All they've got to do is drop that unlimited service down to $10 a month to bring 'em in line with Sprint and T-Mobile and put some pressure on Verizon, which still doesn't offer any unlimited add-on.

[Via Mac Rumors]

AT&T has let us know this morning that the 3G MicroCell site revealed last night is currently supporting a "public trial" in Charlotte, North Carolina alone -- and perhaps more importantly, pricing (including that $20 unlimited, we presume) is being considered a part of that trial. Unfortunately, they've got "no other announcements to make at this time," so it's anyone's guess when this will wrap up and the rest of the country can get its hands on some "more bars in your places" (to quote the MicroCell's perky introductory videos). We'll update you as soon as we know more.

We still don't have all the details we'd like on pricing and availability, but AT&T's official 3G MicroCell site is now up and running where you can enjoy some video overviews and get a good gander at what the finished product looks like (it's way better than the version briefly shown a few months back, if you ask us). Availability of an unlimited calling add-on is confirmed here, and any calls that originate on the MicroCell before being handed off to AT&T's old-school towers will be kept completely out of your minute bucket as long as you sign up for the unlimited package. Also notable is that the carrier officially recommends placing the box near a window so that its GPS receiver can get reception -- like its cousins on Sprint and Verizon, the MicroCell includes GPS so that it can't be used out of the country. So far we're not able to find a ZIP code that works with the availability checker (including the rumored limited release markets mentioned last week), so if you get through, give us a shout.

[Thanks, joe_smith55]

Update: ZIP code 28201 works, though it doesn't let you see plans or buy online -- it just hooks you up with the addresses and phone numbers of nearby stores. There'll be a few calls being made in the morning, eh? Thanks, ryan0816!

How much would you expect to pay to cover AT&T's dead zone using your own internet bandwidth? We appreciate that these guys can't blanket every nook and cranny with HSPA, but carriers need to understand that femtocells are ultimately tools to help them retain customers who'd otherwise have to leave for greener pastures. AT&T's certainly not treating it that way with the 3G MicroCell. Let's compare:

• Sprint's Airave runs $4.99 a month, but they'll give it to you for free if the alternative canceling your service. Unlimited use is $10 a month.
• Verizon charges nothing once you buy the unit, though there's no unlimited calling option available.
• T-Mobile offers unlimited calling through its WiFi-based HotSpot@Home service for $9.99 a month.
• AT&T's going to charge $19.99 a month for unlimited use unless you've got internet or landline (ironic) service with them, in which case you'll pay $9.99. If you've got both internet and landline accounts, it's free.

It's nice to have unlimited calling tacked on as an option here, but it should be exactly half as much, end of story -- and in an era where landlines are on life support (and femtocells should be helping to accelerate their demise), the triple play tie-in is wrongheaded. Of course, none of this is official just yet, but with pamphlets already circulating in retail channels, these numbers look like the real deal. A shame, isn't it?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Zacks Investment Research is reporting in a matter-of-fact tone that AT&T's long-rumored, long-desired 3G Microcell femtocell will be hitting some markets "in the next week." The full list of initial launch areas hasn't been disclosed, but Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle and North Carolina are all specifically mentioned; as you might recall, Sprint restricted the launch of its Airave for some time, too, so limited availability out of the gate wouldn't really come as a surprise. AT&T had no comment when asked about the report, so it's a wait-and-see game -- but if you're clinging to one bar of service, have hope that help is on the way.

We've known the tech behind AT&T's spin on the home-based femtocell repeater since January, and in February a little iPhone update revealed that we were getting closer to prime time. Finally, news of limited trials and then... silence. AT&T has apparently been keeping its head down, diligently testing its MicroCell service, with 200 lucky subscribers having Cisco boxes beam full bars to the darkest corners of their living rooms for months, testing that has been successful enough for AT&T's Gordon Mansfield to say that it's still "on track for a full national launch." That's the good news. The bad news is that he continued by saying it'll release sometime "by the end of 2009." So, you might be in for up to six more months of dangling your iPhone out the window to get your voicemail, but hold tough -- you can make it.

Word on the street is that AT&T kicked off a trial of its 3G MicroCell HSPA-enabled femtocell this week, with units being delivered to signal-deprived homes on Tuesday. We've been hearing about the thing for long enough now that we would've liked to see a release, like, now -- but given that these trials are apparently expected to run through June 9, we guess we wouldn't expect to see it at retail until then, assuming everything goes well. In the meantime, participants are getting 200 bones on top of the unit itself, so color us jealous. Follow the break for AT&T's full email to testers.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

T-Mobile has HotSpot @Home, Sprint has AIRAVE, and Verizon has its Wireless Network Extender, leaving just AT&T among the States' big four carriers without a launched WiFi or femtocell solution for extending signals into the home -- but it looks like that's finally getting close to changing. We know that they've been in the process of trialing some units recently, and tipsters have observed that there's now a pretty slick site launched on AT&T's domain for its 3G MicroCell, an indication that they might be looking to go retail eventually. There's quite a bit of detail here; from the picture, we can make out that the unit comes from Cisco (versus Samsung for Sprint and Verizon), and like its competitors, the MicroCell will require a broadband connection to operate. It'll cover up to 5,000 square feet, allow up to four simultaneous voice or data connections (locked down so that your neighbors can't pilfer the signal), and most interestingly, will only work with 3G phones. We've heard that femtocells are more difficult to manage in a 2G GSM environment than in CDMA and WCDMA -- hence the 3G requirement -- but the cells offered by Sprint and Samsung only offer 2G coverage, so AT&T's arguably got an advantage here. We still don't know exactly when this is coming or for how much dough, but the site makes mention of a "3G MicroCell service plan," so we'd count on a fee for the pleasure of extending AT&T's network on their behalf. Follow the break for AT&T's full rundown of the device.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]