Method for operating a wimax femtocell base station and femtocell base station

A method for a femtocell base station, comprising:

• for a femtocell base station that includes at least two operation modes including a normal operation mode and a low-duty operation mode with reduced radio interface activity, operating the femtocell base station in a normal operation mode with the femtocell base station being connected to one or more mobile stations, the one or more mobile station capable of connecting to the femtocell base station, wherein the one or more mobile stations switches between i) a connected state with the mobile station connecting to the femtocell base station, and ii) an idle state with the mobile station not establishing a connection with the femtocell base station operating in one of an idle mode, a sleep mode, and an active mode;
• and
• while operating said femtocell base station in the normal operation mode, said femtocell base station detecting if there are no one or more mobile stations in the connected state, and
• based on detecting if there are no one or more mobile stations in the connected state, transiting said femtocell base station from said normal operation mode to said low-duty operation mode with reduced radio interface activity in order to reduce interference to neighbor cells.