NEW ORLEANS – Seeking to move boldly into a potentially hot new area, Verizon Communications plans to begin selling its new home control and security service throughout the U.S. sometime next year, not just within its wired DSL and FiOS footprint.
Speaking at the TelcoTV conference here last week, Eric Bruno, VP of Product Management for Verizon, explained that the telco made a calculated decision to offer its home control service in a "broadband agnostic" way. The new service, which allows subscribers to control everything from lighting, temperature and energy consumption to home security and door locks, costs $9.95 per month, plus equipment fees.
(Rogers and SaskTel also offer smart home monitoring services in Canada in their wired regions.)
With the new security service, Verizon is attempting to expand upon its national branding strategy while boosting the competitive stakes with the major U.S. MSOs that have launched similar types of products, such as Comcast and Suddenlink Communications. The expansion into the security arena also pits Verizon against such traditional home security powers as ADT.
In his keynote address, Bruno stressed the importance of providing a consistent user interface to customers across all types of consumer devices. He noted that Verizon sought to make the interface for the home control and security service consistent no matter whether it was accessed through a PC, mobile phone, tablet or TV set. He said the telco is pursuing the same strategy as it extends the reach of its FiOS TV services to a growing array of new consumer devices, including Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.
"The viewing experience is going to fragment" as traditional video services essentially become "just another app" on these connected devices, Bruno said. One key challenge, he noted, is delivering a quality video experience on those devices using networks that may be out of Verizon’s control. But, he stressed, "the real risk" is not providing a consistent user interface.
"People like to stick to what they know," he said, while displaying screen shots of the ways that Verizon is seeking to achieve this with its Interactive Media Guide (IMG.). He said the telco is pursuing an approach of "learn one screen and you learn them all."
Alan Breznick is a Toronto-based senior analyst at Heavy Reading, part of the Light Reading Communications Network at UBM TechWeb and was in New Orleans last week to cover the Telco TV conference for Cartt.ca.
