All the statistics, predictions, and customer trends point in the same direction: the connected home market is a big piece of cake that offers almost endless business opportunities for those who are quick to take hold of it. Why? Because the market potential is huge (see here, here and here). So huge that its full scope has yet to be defined. What is also yet to be defined Is who exactly will likely benefit mostly from this potential.
At present, telecom companies, together with security service providers and platform developers stand in a privileged position to become major players in the connected home market that is just now beginning to take shape.
We share with you five reasons why telcos ought to include connected home services among their offerings.
1. Timing
There’s a time and place for everything, and right now it is the time for the connected home. The increased penetration of smartphones and other portable devices that connect to the internet and communicate with each other is creating the perfect ecosystem for the development of a connected home that not so long ago we could only dream about.
2. Opportunity for growth
The smart home market offers huge opportunity for growth for telcos, and a chance to expand their business and revenue streams by offering brand new services to their customers. The aging population demands new systems to age safely at home, younger people are looking for ways to save energy at home and remotely monitor their properties. Consumers demand smart home applications that allow them to live better. Everyone wants enhanced security, comfort, convenience, and things that make their lives easier. Telcos are perfectly positioned to offer those services to a large customer base.
3. Reinforce customer loyalty
By offering a new service to their existing customers, telcos will not only reinforce loyalty to their existing services, but also gain new ones. That’s because users are attracted to the convenience and cost benefits of bundling services from a single home provider whom they trust, instead of having to deal with several separate providers.
4. Need to reinvent
Following the latest trends in the industry, it’s easy to see that in the past few years, international trade fairs that were traditionally meant to showcase consumer electronics or mobile innovations, such as CES or Mobile World Congress have been totally engulfed by IoT. The most recent editions of MWC have been as much about smart homes, connected cities, and wearables as about the latest mobile innovations. The world is changing and we all have to change along with it.
5. Competitors are already doing it
The big telcos have realized the potential of this seemly limitless market and are increasingly placing their bets on connected home solutions and offering them to their customers in bundles of services. At some point, this will no longer be an option, but a requirement to stay competitive in the market. So, better sooner than later, when all the large competitors are well ahead of the race.
The ever-growing connected home industry poses a whole new business opportunity for telcos that are looking for a way to expand their business lines and wish to stay competitive in the market. These companies are perfectly positioned to take the central role as integrators of all types of connected home services, which gives them a great advantage in the smart home race and an invaluable chance to position themselves as major players in this new emerging industry.
