Is Deutsche Telekom Planning to Offer Home Monitoring Services?

Deutsche Telekom recently announced that they are partnering with DSP Group, a wireless chipset manufacture, to trial the use of ULE (Ultra Low Energy) technology in Deutsche Telekom’s Speedport Home Gateway. ULE is seen by many as an important part to next-generation home networking and a preferred solution to offering connected home services.

The collaboration between Deutsche Telekom and DSP will see the Speedport Home Gateway capitalise on ULE’s star topology eliminating the need for repeater to be installed.  As a home gateway, it will seamlessly connect to other smart home devices such as motion sensors, smoke and flood detectors and other security solutions.

In announcing the trial, Deutsche Telekom did not say there were plans to offer home monitoring and security services themselves, but I think it’s clear to see the possibility as a whole.  They already have the customers and infrastructure, now they have the device, all they need now is the complete platform.

Companies like Swisscom, Comcast and Verizon are already offering these services, by taking advantage of their already established customer base and infrastructure.  If that is not enough, a strong incentive would be the money. According to Strategy Analytic, the home monitoring and security market is expected to work US$1.6 billion in Western Europe and US$ 10 billion in the US – in the next five years.

The integration of ULE into the Speedport Home Gateway makes it an ideal smart home gateway solution. End users will be able to monitor whether their smoke alarms are operational or their batteries need replacement, and even to transmit the alarm to some third party via an IP connection.

The ability of Speedport Home Gateway to save energy by utilizing ULE enables smart home users to benefit from monitoring and managing the energy consumption of their home appliances, either on demand or according to pre-determined times.  All management and monitoring can be done seamlessly from home or remotely via Internet-enabled smartphones, tablets, laptops or PCs.

"ULE is not just another technology in the burgeoning market of smart home applications, its outstanding range, interference-free operation and self-install capabilities make ULE the ideal platform for a smarter home," says Dirk A. Böttger, Vice President, Terminal Management Fixed Line of Deutsche Telekom. "Millions of Deutsche Telekom gateways already benefit from DECT connectivity, and most of them can be easily enabled for ULE and smart home applications by a simple automatic firmware update without any disruption to best-in-class services we deliver to our customers."