Evolving consumer behaviours drive new trends for NSPs in Smart Home CPE
Girish Naganathan , chief technology officer , Technicolor Connected Home , advises how to help NSPs deliver seamless connectivity and premium entertainment experiences to consumers .
Over the last 18 months , new trends in consumer behaviour have emerged placing no small amount of pressure on network service providers ( NSPs ) to meet the surging expectations and demand of subscribers . NSPs rose to the challenge by exploring new broadband delivery and access technologies to ensure consumers could maintain their professional and personal lives while adhering to stay-at-home restrictions . At the same time , NSPs incorporated value-added services to support streaming video services , online gaming and business applications .
With many employees working from home throughout prolonged lockdown periods , demand for high bandwidth and low latency services has soared . To address this heightened reliance on connectivity in the home , some NSPs quickened the pace of transformation initiatives and made more investments in fibre and DOCSIS customer premises equipment ( CPE ). Industry executives placed a higher priority on establishing connectivity in remote locations with difficult terrain , and began exploring hybrid CPE solutions through the integration of fixed wireless access and traditional DSL to deliver service to these underserved communities .
As investments in network infrastructure were being made , some operators focused on improving connectivity within the home by upgrading CPE to Wi-Fi 6 to offer more reliable , consistent bandwidth to subscribers . Employees working from home that require enterprise-level applications discovered the need for a wider variety of capabilities , services -- such as security and support for network partitioning to connect to enterprise resources -- as well as different types of content through
their in-home networks . From an operator ’ s perspective , the ability to integrate these value-added services in an agile , efficient and costeffective manner favours open platform offerings over proprietary , single function platforms .
That is why Technicolor Connected Home remains committed to leveraging open and innovative technologies for network service providers ( NSPs ) around the world . The ultimate goal is to help NSPs deliver seamless connectivity and premium entertainment experiences to consumers by creating best-in-class CPE and partnering with the most ingenious companies in the connected home ecosystem .
In many ways , workfrom-home and other restrictions brought about by the pandemic rapidly changed the ways consumers live their digital lives . As a result , NSPs accelerated modernisation and innovation efforts to enable consumers to stay connected and maintain their work and life dynamics .
Operators manage complexity in smart home through multi-service CPE
Beyond changes to how work is conducted , the effects of lockdowns shifted consumer viewing habits of video content to new heights . Eager to watch their favourite movies and episodic series , consumers purchased new TVs - including Smart TVs - in record numbers during 2020 . While Smart TVs have had a notable year , the technology is still working through the early stages of penetrating the market .
Smart TVs are one method of entertainment consumption , but there are multiple devices present in the home today . Many more are on the way as Internet-of- Things ( IoT ) devices and applications come to market . In the smart home , operators have designed CPE as multi-service devices capable of delivering entertainment content , and Wi- Fi , as well as other features and capabilities . However , what is more critical to the customer experience is how the service and CPE manage the complexity of connectivity and multiple devices , especially during those times where there is an issue . Smart TVs are not managed by the operators , so if there is an issue that needs resolution the subscriber will have little to no support . Software upgrades , for example , need to occur periodically , and NSPs can send these upgrades remotely through CPE to the install base of subscribers .
As devices , services and IoT introduce more complexity to the smart home , CPE acts as a centralised hub to support this ecosystem .
5G roll outs move closer to the home
Another trend taking place in smart home CPE is the growth of 5G . With recent auctions of spectrum in Sub-6 and mmWave in multiple geographies of the world , mass adoption of 5G is beginning . Initially , providers focused on incorporating 5G technology in the category of mobile handset services , but NSPs are starting to roll 5G into offerings for broadband services in market segments where ROI makes sense .
Telcos are already investing in base stations , backhaul and other infrastructure to support 5G service for mobile handsets . The availability of new spectrum , however , presents telcos with the opportunity to offer broadband services as well . The critical question before the industry is how to best provide consumers with a single , converged experience when moving from , for example , an outdoor environment to an in-home network environment . Industry players , such as Technicolor Connected Home , are working to address this issue by extending the functionality of wireline CPE to 5G Fixed Wireless Access CPE .
As 5G deployments continue , the in-home network will require increased security with more consumers working from home . It will be critical for NSPs to ensure that consumers have access to the managed security services that will provide them with peace of mind to live their connected lives . NSPs will need to integrate end-to-end encryption throughout the technology stack across a wide array of network resources outside the home as well inside the home .
These trends are already significantly altering the landscape that NSPs must navigate to meet growing consumer expectations . The ways in which CPE enables consumers to have digital experiences and go about their daily lives will continue to evolve as the home becomes more interconnected . Technicolor Connected Home will continue to support an ecosystem of partners to develop and deploy open CPE platforms for future smart home needs .
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