Networking giant Cisco said Wednesday that it has made an investment in femtocell shop ip.access, giving it a stronger foothold in the mobile space.

The company’s main source of revenue comes form its 2G picocell business at present, but ip.access has secured new funding from supporters for its Oyster 3G femtocell, which is currently in trials with major mobile operators worldwide.

Cisco will join existing ip.access investors including Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion, Intel Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, ADC and Motorola Ventures.

The Oyster femtocell is a low-power wireless access point which plugs into a residential broadband DSL or cable connection to deliver a 3G mobile phone signal indoors.

But operators plan to integrate femtocell technology within residential gateways and set-top boxes, such as those offered by Cisco’s consumer products business, the company said.