Aren’t in-person panels great? Less focus on what that really is in the background of the presenters shot on zoom and more focus on the interactive debate between the speakers. That was certainly the case recently when senior representatives from Deutsche Telekom, Orange, HomeGrid and NAGRA took to the stage at the Broadband World Forum, now part of the Network X show in Amsterdam.
The topic up for debate was why third-party relationships are important to realize smart home opportunities for today’s telecom operators and how these are key to continuing to develop subscriber loyalty and value.
Growth of the Connected Home
Today’s consumers are super, even hyper, connected. Deloitte recently reported that the average home in the United States has 25 connected devices. That’s a lot of devices that are not only utilizing the in-home network but also becoming key parts of our lives. But for each device we happily connect to our home WiFi network, we also increase our cyber-attack surface area. Savvy consumers have identified that all this connectivity doesn’t come without risk and a heavily fragmented device landscape is likely to have some devices whose manufacturers have given scant attention to strong security or efficient connectivity. That’s where the ISPs come in.
How many times have you called your ISP to complain that your WiFi isn’t giving you the bandwidth you expect? With more and more connected devices in our homes, these calls are becoming more frequent. This creates an opportunity to extend subscriber value through new services that address the issues being faced. There’s also a heavy investment of trust in ISPs as illustrated when NAGRA recently asked a representative sample of U.S. consumers who they expect to protect them from illicit threats; the answer from the majority was their provider.
As more and more devices get added to a home network - with some that are potentially ‘leaky’ when it comes to security and connectivity - ISPs are well-placed to help. Often having long-term relationships with their subscribers, new services and approaches that bind together several third-party offerings have clear value.
Protected & Connected Lifestyles
At NAGRA, we champion an environment where consumers can live their connected lifestyles without risk. A world where devices ‘just work’ with each other through centralized apps and a world where consumers aren’t concerned about cyber or security hacks. It is for this reason we developed NAGRA Scout, our connected lifestyle security solution that aims to provide consumers with the desired level of reassurance and protection whether at home or on the go. However, it isn’t our aim for these consumers to become experts in connected lifestyle technologies or home network management. As my colleague Laura Buffard commented during the panel in Amsterdam, “It’s not smart home devices that make a home smart. It’s how fast and easy it is for consumers to tell the home what they want it to do. Moreover, it’s about how confident they are that all this connectivity is reliable and keeps them safe.”
NAGRA Scout is designed to help ISPs offer new solutions through key partnerships that support the busy and connected lifestyles of their consumers. Cutting across several industry verticals from connected kitchen goods to connected health and home automation and entertainment, NAGRA Scout allows consumers, through different user profiles to fully interact with their devices safe in the knowledge that if a threat is detected, NAGRA Scout will act. NAGRA Scout, in conjunction with its partners, also addresses calls to the contact center regarding the troublesome WiFi performance we discussed earlier. Using AI-based diagnostic tools integrated with our NAGRA Scout platform, call center operators can use software installed on the home router to ‘see’ the devices on the home network and resolve the issue.
Incorporating Matter
The connected home landscape is evolving at pace. With new standards such as Matter promising to improve interconnectivity and the security of IoT devices, NAGRA Scout, when combined with other group solutions such as Kudelski IoT’s keySTREAM, enables NAGRA to provide a security baseline and associated device management on which partners and third parties can layer other Matter compliant solutions, such as a home alarm system.
Each IoT device is different. Each has a different threat level, and each manufacturer will also have a different level/ attitude to risk. Our Kudelski IoT team already helps device manufacturers design, architect and test device security implementations as well as manage the evolving threats over time. This focus on the entire lifecycle brings value to IoT device manufacturers and in turn, to their consumers whose use of the device can then be protected through solutions such as NAGRA Scout.
To learn more about NAGRA Scout, discuss how it can add value to your service proposition or see a demonstration, please contact us or visit our webpage – we’d love to continue the conversation.