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5 posts from March 2009

The Everywire Conversation with Parks Associates’ VP and Principal Analyst, Kurt Scherf

March 19, 2009 12:03 PM in 802.11n , CEPCA , Kurt Scherf , Parks Associates , UPA  | 0 comments  | 0 TrackBack

Parks Associates’ VP and Principal Analyst, Kurt Scherf, has been a long time observer of home networks, IPTV and broadband technologies.  I recently spoke to Kurt about his view on G.hn, the global economy, and home networking trends around the world.

Kurt’s take on G.hn is that it is an important step to resolving much of the confusion that has existed in the powerline networking space with the existence of three major specifications – Universal Powerline Association (led by Spanish chipmaker DS2), Panasonic’s HD-PLC (supported by Japan’s Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance, or CEPCA), and HomePlug. Both UPA and CEPCA are on board with G.hn, leaving HomePlug and the Multimedia over Coax (MoCA) solutions on the outside looking in.

Standardizing on a powerline networking solution for the service provider community was critical, according to Scherf, because it is among broadband service providers where the need for powerline bridges between modems and set-top boxes are critical in reducing CapEx costs for the installation of triple-play and IPTV services. This is most evident currently in the highly-dynamic European marketplace, where incumbent telephone providers compete in each other’s territory, thanks to aggressive local loop unbundling. Despite the current economic slowdown, Scherf points to home networking deployments as but one example of continued investments by service providers to innovate with new services and to seek ways to lower deployment costs at the same time.

He sees the shift to G.hn as being good for vendors like CopperGate as they seem to have been early in the notion that having industry standards best serve the industry at large.  He thinks the move by CopperGate in buying the HomePlug AV business last year from Conexant was a smart move, as it gave them the industry’s only coax, phone and powerline solution. As for Intel and their being the driving force behind the HomeGrid Forum, Kurt sees the semiconductor giant as looking for new markets into the home, particularly with high-end processors that the company is aiming at the connected TV and connected set-top box markets.

Although MoCA representatives were unhappy with how the G.hn development transpired, Scherf said that this home networking technology has room to expand in regions where cable operators have a stronger presence, such as North America and Western Eruope, Scherf applauded MoCA’s success in the cable space, but sees it as limiting compared to other regions of the world, where operators will seek the ubiquity of powerline networks to distribute triple-play and high-definition video services. A good fit for MoCA technology is in multi-room DVR applications, Scherf noted. However, rollouts are still limited to a few service providers at present, including AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. and Telefónica in Spain.

As to the emerging class of next-generation wireless solutions (including 802.11n and proprietary technologies), Scherf said that they bear watching as a potential fit for networked consumer electronics, but he has not heard of strong demand from the service providers for wireless solutions to distribute high-quality video around the home.

Overall, my conversation with Kurt was engaging and positive.  Parks Associates continues to offer innovative research, events and industry conferences.  They also seem to really get social networks, as evidenced by their recently announced report that ties social networking with advertising and connected TV. 

My goal is to check in with Kurt on a quarterly basis and get his sense of the forward moving momentum for G.hn and wired home networking in general.

It’s A Small World, After All….

March 16, 2009 1:03 PM in Alan Weinkrantz , CopperGate , EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , Home Networking , HomePNA , Wired Home Networking  | 0 comments  | 0 TrackBack

Outside of the U.S., consumers in countries large and small alike are looking to be part of the wired home networking revolution.

According to market research firm, Multimedia Research Group, by 2012, North America will have only about 17% share of the total worldwide subscribers (but it will dominate the global market in terms of gross service provider revenues.)

Taking a clue from this data, I think it’s important to look in various parts of the world as to how and where the wired home networking revolution and the deployment of the G.hn standard will take hold.

When I look for indicators, I look at data from market research firms, design wins, new technology, and new product announcements from vendors. In the transition to G.hn, the vendors still have technology-- and a product pipeline to fill.

Case in point:  last week, chip vendor, CopperGate Communications announced a design win with Codetel, the largest telco in the Dominican Republic.  At the other end of the spectrum, today CopperGate is announcing its new CopperGate CG3210M chipset. It is the next generation HomePNA-based solution for multi-dwelling units (MDU) and hospitality applications in Asia. They’re claiming delivery of up to 190 Mbit/s of IP traffic and is a third of the price for DOCSIS 3.0-based solutions to deliver the same throughput.

The CopperGate announcement quotes Kurt Scherf, VP and Principal Analyst with Parks Assocations as saying “This new product will be particularly well-positioned in Asian markets because of the rapidly-growing middle class of consumers who are seeking these amenities for their apartments.”

That’s pretty telling in that going forward, I think we all need to keep an eye on the market outside of the United States.

 Now, back to my headline for a minute.

In remembering the song, “It’s a Small World,” here is something else to remember:  the song was purposed for use at the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York, a time when the old, old, old AT&T was touting its futuristic “Videophone” at the same venue. 

I wonder what would happen today if a world’s fair were being held -- you pick the country--  but with G.hn, and its potential applications as the headlining attraction. 

If I was running the show, I’d license the song from Disney, and get every service provider on planet earth to sing along, and imagine the potential of what a global, single standard like G.hn could bring to the wired home networking revolution.

 

Why G.hn is now the Official Big Enchilada of Wired Home Networking Standards.

March 12, 2009 4:03 AM in Alan Weinkrantz , Best Buy , EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , Home Networking , HomeGrid Forum , HomePlug , HomePNA , MoCA , P1901 , U-verse , Wired Home Networking  | 0 comments  | 1 TrackBack

Last night as I was running some errands, I drove by and decided to pay a visit to my local Best Buy where I live in San Antonio.  I walked through the myriad of big screen TVs and of course the way cool Magnolia Theater section of the store.

I needed to do this in order think through a bit more about how and why Best Buy’s role as a Board Member of the HomeGrid Forum will impact the future of the wired home network. 

Then it hit me. 

Being an AT&T U-verse customer, I must confess that my brain has been way too service provider-centric since I have been living on HomePNA for the past three years.

The “ah-ha” moment came to me when I realized that in one fell swoop, the big box retailer will be the key driver in the migration to the next generation of wired home networking - the G.hn standard.  Now that Circuit City is dead, Best Buy controls what U.S. consumers buy in terms of consumer electronics, home appliances, and computers.

Best Buy wants to make sure that when a customer walks in the door to shop and hopefully buy, the entire experience is excellent. While I haven’t spoken to Best Buy, my guess is they probably realize all too well that the home networking experience today is not that great an experience. There are too many standards, different devices that don’t work well together and as a result, customers get confused and return their products.

Best Buy can fix all that. By pushing TV, appliance, computer and network device makers towards a common standard like G.hn, Best Buy can do more to help rally the industry around a unified approach to the connected home.  Plus, what Best Buy does in the U.S. will impact what other big box retailers in other parts of the world. 

My guess is once Best Buy decides to embrace G.hn in full, every hardware company will have to migrate from existing standards such as HomePlug, MoCA and HomePNA to G.hn. This probably won’t happen overnight. It will probably take years. Still, I can’t hardly wait and see how Best Buy makes it all work seamlessly together.

 

 

HomeGrid Forum Adds New Members; Holy Geek Squad: Best Buy Joins Board of Directors

March 09, 2009 7:03 PM in Alan Weinkrantz , EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , Home Networking , HomeGrid Forum , Laboratoire des Applications Numeriques , P1901 , University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory  | 0 comments  | 1 TrackBack

HomeGrid Forum today announced that Best Buy, Laboratoire des Applications Numeriques (LAN), University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory, and ACN Advanced Communications Networks SA (ACN) have joined the growing list of HomeGrid Forum members. 

While this list is certainly compelling, what is most telling in today’s announcement is that the mother of all big box retailers, and survivor of the consumer electronics retail downturn, Best Buy, has been appointed to HomeGrid Forum’s board of directors. 

Walk into any Best Buy and then head over to their Magnolia Home Theater department.  That’s where the rubber meets the road and big gross dollars are spent when a consumer decides to go all the way with high- end home theater.  And even if the consumer just needs new big screen TV or an audio system, Best Buy is still the place where the consumer is going to make a decision and try to get educated on making sure their purchase is good for the long run.

I also think this move will be good for Best Buy’s Geek Squad division which is the group that comes to your home to help deploy and install your equipment purchase.  With Best Buy supporting the global adoption of the ITU-T’s G.hn next-generation technology as the single wired standard for connecting devices together over coax, powerlines, and phonelines in the home, it should make the installation process a much simpler one.

At the other end of the spectrum in today’s announcement, two of the new member companies -- Laboratoire des Applications Numeriques and University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory -- are established and highly respected leaders in the field of standards compliance and interoperability testing for broadband networking technologies.

This is also a big deal because they will help ensure the deployment of high quality G.hn products through rigorous test programs based on the HomeGrid Compliance & Interoperability Program. 

Products that pass these tests will receive the HomeGrid-Certified logo, an assurance that G.hn-based products from any vendor will deliver the performance and interoperability necessary to connect computing, communications, and entertainment products in the digital home. And that takes me back to where Best Buy fits in. 

Having a HomeGrid-Certified logo on your product helps the consumer make a decision where it matters the most:  at the point of going from let me think about this, to “honey, let’s take this one home.”

 

HomePNA’s Laison Announcement With HomeGrid Forum Illustrates Long Term Commitment to Industry Standards

March 06, 2009 4:03 PM in EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , Home Networking , HomePNA , U-verse , Wired Home Networking  | 0 comments  | 0 TrackBack

Last week, HomePNA announced the signing of a liaison agreement with HomeGrid Forum to jointly promote the ITU’s G.hn home networking standard.   HomePNA President, Bill Simmelink told me that his members strongly believe in, and support the work being done there. Beyond the announcement, there’s another story to be told.  I think HomePNA is uniquely positioned to support G.hn because its members were among its earliest supporters.  

HomePNA is the only true existing-wire home networking "standard."  To date, it's the only technology endorsed and supported by a true standards group - an impartial organization that isn't under the control of a limited number of companies.  Also, HomePNA is the only home networking standard that operates simultaneously over two of the three types of home wiring; coax and phone wires.  It works as advertised and I've had it in my home for 3 years running on AT&T's U-verse offering.

Add these together and multiply by the fact that HomePNA’s two-wire home networking was standardized by the same ITU home networking standards group now working on the G.hn three-wire standard, and you can see how well HomePNA members are positioned in terms of technology, experience and expertise to drive and take advantage of the G.hn work. 

And one more thing….even tough HomePNA isn’t publically commenting on the next generation HomePNA 4 spec development, they have disclosed that it will provide broad support for the G.hn standard.