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Smart households to reach 14m by 2014

The number of smart homes – households that can control their appliances as well as manage their energy consumption via home networking and smart metering technology – is expected to reach 14 million worldwide by 2014, according to IMS Research.

Alex Green, senior director of the analyst firm's communications division, said during a panel session at Broadband World Forum in Paris that growth is being driven initially by utility providers.

"They have a large part to play – they're already starting to offer what will become the foundations for a lot of these smart home services," he said.

"They have a lot to gain from managing people's [energy] usage as well," he said.

However, Green also warned that energy companies could be met with opposition from some end users.

"We expect that some consumers will be reluctant to give control of their energy usage to their utility provider," he said, commenting that it will be up to energy firms and metering companies to educate their customers about the benefits of smart home services including smart lighting, smart plug sockets, smart thermostats and connected white goods.

Telcos are also expected to play a significant role in providing smart home services. However, Green said they have been a little slow off the mark.

"Telcos and broadband providers certainly have a big part to play in smart households. We're not seeing a whole lot from them at the moment, but over the next few years I expect we'll start to see them pushing further into smart home services," he said.

From a technology point of view, Green said the growth in smart home services will be driven by a combination of residential gateways, set-top boxes, dedicated smart home hubs and smart utility meters.

Источник: Total Telecom

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