‘Aggressive’ AT&T Home Automation Push Seen Lifting Low Penetration

The first markets for what AT&T calls the first all-Internet Protocol wireless-centric security and home automation solution are within the telco’s conventional 22-state broadband U-verse footprint, but since Digital Life is wireless, it’s also rolling out in other markets, including Seattle and New York/New Jersey, Petersen said at a New York media briefing Wednesday.

AT&T bought the IP-based wireless platform from Xanboo in 2010, and it’s the foundation for both the security and home automation segments of the service. The platform offers monitored security service based on sensors and video cameras along with lighting, thermostat and appliance control. AT&T wants to extend the platform to other segments including healthcare, small businesses and the car, the company said. The key to leveraging the technology is “owning your own platform,” Petersen said. The platform is ISP-agnostic, he said.

Citing low penetration of security (20 percent) and home automation (1-2 percent) systems in U.S. homes, AT&T research shows the biggest barrier to entry is cost, Petersen said: “We're very confident that apples to apples in terms of price, what we're providing” versus offerings from competitors “is a very compelling value proposition for customers."

Digital Life is available in two main packages, starting with Simple Security, which includes 24/7 home monitoring, 24-hour battery backup, a wireless keypad, keychain remote, recessed sensors and an indoor siren for $29.99 a month, plus $149.99 for equipment and installation. Smart Security ($39.99 a month, plus $249.99 for equipment and installation) adds the option to buy into home automation and includes the choice of three features to add to security monitoring: motion, carbon monoxide, glass break or smoke sensor, or a “takeover kit” to convert an existing security system. Additional sensors can be added at a la carte pricing. Consumers can buy it all at once or add products and services at a later date via self-install, Petersen said. The system has a lifetime warranty, he said.

Home automation features are priced separately in packages. The camera package, available for cameras inside and outside the home, starts at an additional $9.99 a month for monitoring up to eight cameras, plus camera cost and installation. Subscribers can pick one video feed to show on the opening home page for the Web service. The energy package -- covering appliances, light switches and Honeywell Z-Wave thermostats -- starts at $4.99 a month, plus equipment and installation. The electronic door lock package also starts at $4.99 a month, plus equipment and installation. Water sensing and water control packages start at $4.99 and $9.99 a month, plus equipment and installation, according to company literature.

For now, AT&T isn’t trying to pull customers to its other services via Digital Life. If customers aren’t subscribers to AT&T Wireless or the company’s U-Verse broadband service, “that’s okay,” Petersen said. “Of course, we'd love for you to come over.” Leveraging its wireless service with Digital Life is on AT&T’s roadmap. Coming “fairly quickly” is a tie-in to location-based services, where an instruction could be written based on the location of a subscriber’s smartphone or tablet, Petersen said. At the outset, a Digital Life system will be programmed based on a fixed time or an action or condition in the home. When the system is tied into location-based technology, an event could kick in based on the user’s location through a cellphone. Tying into the mobile network would be easy for AT&T, said Petersen. “That’s an agreement we'd have to work out with other mobile providers."

Integrating functions over the platform is one of the selling points of a full-blown Digital Life system, said Christy Jones, marketing manager. She gave the example of a user being able to set up an automatic macro event using an app or on the website. If an alarm or sensor is triggered, the system can turn on selected connected lights and a radio connected to a smart plug would turn on, she said. The app, which Jones called the user interface of the system, was optimized for the iOS, Android and Microsoft Phone platforms with BlackBerry in the future.

AT&T is using a “try before you buy” message for Digital Life and will demo the products and app in 450 company-owned AT&T Wireless stores at launch, Petersen said. He called it a “look, feel, touch experience” in a “non-threatening environment with an educated person on the other end.” Consumers can also build a system and purchase online, he said.

For the security portion, the Digital Life platform is housed in AT&T’s data center, which has a direct wired connection to the monitoring centers, Petersen said. In the home, no wired phone line is necessary for the security system to call monitoring centers in Atlanta and Dallas. The UL-listed home controller, made by Cisco, connects to a 3G module communicating to AT&T’s wireless network and also connects to broadband for video, said Petersen. The broadband connection also takes over in the case of a wireless outage, he said. Wireless security offers cost savings for customers that have only wired telephone service for security monitoring, Petersen said.