Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, working, shopping, and engaging in basic needs like healthcare through the Internet was a luxury. The dramatic shift since then, particularly towards remote and hybrid working has no doubt influenced the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, particularly in the smart home.
The number of smart homes is forecast to grow and surpass the 350 million mark in 2023 with the newest technologies becoming a necessity. With more devices comes more complexity for home and SOHO networks and difficulties for users trying to get the most out of them. End users are also becoming more aware of the threat landscape that comes with more IoT devices. This puts operators in a unique position to gain new revenue streams through the management of the connected home.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance’s Matter protocol is poised to finally enable a truly interoperable ecosystem for smart home devices themselves. For operators, it’s critical to be able to easily deploy services like Matter into their networks in a managed, streamlined, and effective way. By utilizing products and applications based on standardized, well-tested open-source solutions to launch value-added services like Matter and more, operators can realize this value and guarantee the satisfaction of their subscribers. The Broadband Forum created the User Services Platform, or TR-369, for exactly this purpose.
An IoT explosion creating challenges and opportunities
Ultimately, the responsibility of these operators is to satisfy customer needs. One of the main challenges operators face in managing the connected home is the wide spectrum of devices it brings. Consumers expect their service providers to deliver on the concept of the smart home, whilst at the same time guaranteeing reliable, fast broadband services.
The reliance on technology and explosion of new devices in the home has also opened up end users to a greater threat landscape and highlighted the need for network-based security solutions to secure both home networks and connected devices. According to Broadband Forum member, F-Secure, customers are turning to CSPs to provide cyber security, with 64% preferring to receive the service from their operators.
Standardizing opportunities
The interconnection and interoperability of multiple devices, services, and apps, ranging from security to home automation and entertainment, is essential to deriving value from the connected home. Standardizing the managed connected home offers a number of benefits to operators, consumer electronics manufacturers, and application providers, creating an interoperable ecosystem that is easy and effective to manage.
The Broadband Forum has introduced new and up-to-date standardized protocols, such as TR-369 or User Services Platform (USP), to respond to the rapidly growing needs and demands of the connected world. USP co-exists with and represents the natural evolution of TR-069 as it offers an easy migration path for those that wish to introduce it into new and existing environments.
Rapidly adopted by operators, USP provides a customizable, turn-key solution for adding Wi-Fi optimization and more to their overall service offerings. IoT is just one service opportunity that a service provider can take advantage of. The availability of this app-store-like solution, with the home gateway as the central hub, creates an enhanced user experience for the consumer and delivers higher margin services beyond IoT minimum revenue share services.
USP is a standardized protocol for managing, monitoring, upgrading, and controlling connected devices. The specification creates a real opportunity for operators to take advantage of the latest technologies that enable end user connectivity, applications, and services. This is achieved by offering a system of controllers and agents that enable effective remote manipulation of software and hardware capabilities.
Another benefit of TR-369 is its security features. With the increasing number of connected devices and services, security is a major concern for service providers and their customers. TR-369 provides a secure framework for managing and integrating different devices and services from multiple stakeholders. This helps to protect customers' personal and financial information, and ensures that the managed connected home is secure and reliable.
The three pillars of successful technology
If the connected home market is to be monetized by service providers, it is vital that they can seamlessly migrate and evolve their systems with technologies on the market. While many companies may offer vertical solutions of their own, proprietary or non-standardized solutions lock providers and users into a stunted ecosystem and may limit the market for operators. It is only through interoperability that the door can be opened to new use cases essential in addressing the rising consumer demand and expectations, such as Wi-Fi management, network security, parental control, and home automation. This also presents a great opportunity for service providers to offer premium services.
USP has been designed and specified by many service providers and vendors around the world, taking advantage of the long-term experience of deployments and managed services in complex network environments. Its open-source reference software, OB-USP-Agent, gives developers a vital starting point to expand into their own solutions for each service provider. It is complimented by a robust certification program that drives the standard, the open-source project, and the solutions that are currently deployed and being brought to market even now. The combination of these three factors: open-source, open-standards, and robust testing and certification, is behind the most successful technologies out there, and USP is an exemplar of this paradigm.
The managed home brings managed IoT opportunities, especially with smart CPE allowing subscribers to use and install applications and services dynamically within secure and trusted software containers.
Service providers are facing threats from hyperscalers and over-the-top application providers for control of the smart home. But the service provider has one thing that nobody else has – ownership of the IP address and the user experience. The great news is that open standards, including TR-181, USP and the new work encompassed in WT-492 ‘Software-Based Architecture for the App-Enabled Services Gateway - Design Principles’ are the delivery architectures for the new multi-faceted revenue models.
Deploying an open, standardized solution that provides a clear path towards new value and reduce costs is an opportunity that they must take now. Their bottom lines and their subscribers will all be the better for it.
