Residential Gateways Boost Revenue via Home Automation, Video

CAMPBELL, CA - Operators around the world see their broadband access lines as a conduit for new revenue-generating services far beyond today's voice, data, and broadcast video services, according to market research firm Infonetics Research in its new report, Residential Gateway Deployment Strategies.

"With residential gateway revenue dropping because of price declines and a saturated broadband subscriber base, operators are looking to new services to increase revenue per subscriber," notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research.

Heynen adds: "The fastest-growing new services that operators plan to offer over residential gateways are home automation, home security, and multiscreen video (wireless distribution of video to set-top boxes, PCs, tablets, and mobile phones in the home), but there are many others gaining popularity, including online gaming and video telephony.

"Residential gateways are a better fit than basic modems for these types of services because they can be remotely managed and provisioned, have an open application layer to add and customize new features, and offer higher throughput and greater security features. In essence, residential gateways are becoming the gatekeeper for new, high-margin, revenue-generating traffic for operators."

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
. The percentage of operators offering IPTV services using a residential gateway will increase from 88 percent now to 100 percent by 2013.

. The number of operators offering Wi-Fi hotspot access using a residential gateway will grows to 82 percent by 2013.

. The most critical residential gateway features are those that help operators deliver video and ensure video quality, including IGMP, TR-069 management, and IPv6.

. Service providers are reluctant to offer residential gateways integrated with optical network terminals (ONTs).