Wireless operators around the world are increasingly preferring small cells to larger base stations as the race intensifies to roll out high-speed LTE (News - Alert) networks.

According to the Femto Forum, as many as seventeen vendors are now using its LTE small cell APIs (application programming interfaces).

Carriers are quickly rolling out LTE networks in a desperate attempt to cope with the demand for data triggered by the increasing use of smartphones and tablet. Small base stations come into play when communication speeds are likely to fall due to heavy traffic or where radio waves are weak.

Even giant operators such as China Mobile, Vodafone, SK Telecom and NTT (News - Alert) DoCoMo are said to be looking to eagerly deploy small base stations. According to the Forum, SK Telecom has become the first to implement the APIs in its LTE femtocell deployment.

A recent survey conducted by Informa says 60 percent of operators believe small cells will be more important than macrocells in LTE deployments. Small cells were also the comfortable winner in a Rethink Research survey of the most important features driving adoption of LTE.

“As operators plan LTE networks, small cells, including femtocells, could play a critical role in enabling the fastest possible data services in metropolitan and rural public spaces, as well as in private homes and offices,” said Alan Law, chairman of the Femto Forum’s (News - Alert) LTE SIG.

The Forum says small cells are now at the epicenter of mobile broadband thinking and the strong uptake of its LTE API was one more sign of the technology’s growing importance.

By enabling interoperability between different products, the Forum’s LTE APIs help small cell device manufacturers to source critical components from multiple suppliers besides widening the market for chip makers.

The APIs address three fundamental functions: Physical Layer control (to generate LTE radio signals), scheduling (to accurately assign packets to frequency and time slots) and network monitoring (to minimize interference with the macro network and optimize femtocell coverage).

The Femto Forum, which has 137 members including 63 operators, aims to promote Femtocells (News - Alert), the low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections.