Telcos may offer multi-play OTT for security, energy & appliance control: Report

MUMBAI: The Smart Home is a growing fifth-play opportunity for operators. The global smart home market is growing exponentially, attracting an array of service providers, including technology giants and startups to major media players, device makers, big-box retailers, home improvement companies, utilities and telecom network operator.

Government mandates and initiatives in addition to the ongoing technology innovations coupled with increased attention paid to conservation- are the major factors contributing in making smart home a place with a bright future. Focus on sustainability, increasing awareness amongst the consumers with regards to energy consumption and regulatory mandates on energy conservation continue to drive smart home adoption trend globally. While adoption is increasing in countries where governments actively support faster broadband services, especially fiber to the home, the costs associated with new equipment, installation and ongoing maintenance are significant deterrents to home automation.

Government mandates and initiatives, ongoing technology innovation and the intense attention paid to conservation all contribute to giving the smart home a bright future. The smart home is an attractive opportunity for network operators, thanks to their unique billing relationships and network connections into the home.

Telcos can improve the value proposition of home automation by implementing a multi-play OTT strategy that offers a range of capabilities, such as security, energy and appliance control.

Partnerships with companies from different industries are key to ensuring the role of operators in smart home functionality. The market is at a fork in the road, going either toward an open ecosystem with heterogeneous devices or toward proprietary platforms that control all device access.

The Smart Home, a research report by Pyramid Research, analyses the smart home strategies of leading network operators in a number of markets across the globe, focusing on their roles in the value chain. It discusses the elements of smart home services, the participants in the ecosystem and a number of smart home strategies available to operators. Attention is paid throughout to the key challenges operators face, including the need for device standardization and interoperability.

Introduction in the report: Providing a thorough overview of the smart home market, this section looks at the long-term evolution of the market, the types of services available as well as the main adoption drivers and barriers.

The smart home ecosystem (in the report): This section examines the value chain and the roles of the various types of participants, from broadband providers to device manufacturers, utilities and home security platform providers.

Telco positioning strategies and marketing opportunities: This section analyzes a number of approaches operators can take to gain competitive advantage in the connected home, including white-labeling, support services, bundling and OTT services.

Key takeaways in the report whittles down into a number of actionable bullet points.

Case studies: This section analyzes four smart home programs by operators: AT&Ts Digital Life platform in the US, Oranges Homelive in France, HKTs Smart Living in Hong Kong and Rogers Communications Smart Home Monitoring in Canada.

One could identify the broad barriers to adoption as well as challenges specific to telecom operators in the smart home market. Assess the role and opportunity of operators in the smart home market and how they can gain competitive advantage over the markets many powerful players.

One could gain information on some of the most valuable experiences by operators in the home automation market, placing them in the context of ongoing market developments and the main technological and competitive challenges.

The Case studies could be leveraged upon by the operators and cable companies to make informed decisions pertaining to partnering, go-to-market strategies and investments in technologies.

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