Parks: Service Providers Have an Advantage for the Connected Home Opportunity

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More than 60% of broadband households in the United States with a networking router got the device from their broadband service provider, according to research from Parks Associates, outlined in their “Staking a Claim in the Connected Home: Service Provider Solutions,” white paper, sponsored by Calix.

The data suggests that the home is a competitive place where no one type of company has an overwhelming advantage. “Operators have an established claim in the connected home by virtue of their existing customer relationships, but they are competing with many new products that promise improved Wi-Fi, smart home and voice controls, and enhanced data privacy and security. U.S. broadband households now have an average of 9.1 connected devices,” said, Brad Russell, Research Director, Connected Home for Parks Associates in a press release. “Providers can integrate these and other features into the equipment (CPE) they are deploying into subscribers’ homes, consolidating multiple home services under unified support and premium Wi-Fi coverage.”

Clearly, the organizations that figure out how best to manage the home – both the devices and networks in them and the residents who set them up and use them – will have advantages. The research found that almost one-half of smart home device owners experience problems and 13% of consumers contact their service provider when problems occur, no matter where the setup problems are. The company found that WiFi is the is the primary connection technology in 76% of North American broadband households, that 26% of U.S. broadband households own at least one smart home device and 442 million smart home device units will ship annually by 2020. During the past year, 37% of U.S. broadband households said their Wi-Fi seemed slow.

 The white paper looks at approaches to optimizing operator-grade CPE solutions. These include support for all connected services, services aimed at helping subscribers deal with problems and privacy issues. It also looks at ways that operators can support, manage and monetize connected homes.