Joining some of its cable and telco cohorts, Suddenlink Communications is jumping into the quickly evolving smart home market.

Suddenlink Communications announced Wednesday that it is introducing a new home automation service, called Connected Home. The service, which builds on the cable operator's existing home security and monitoring service, offers remote control of various home functions, including lights, thermostats and door locks. In addition, subscribers can remotely arm and disarm their security systems, receive text and email notices about events at home and get pictures and streaming videos of inside and outside their home while away.

Suddenlink, the seventh-largest US MSO with 1.2 million video and 1.1 million broadband customers, did not disclose pricing for the service in its announcement yesterday. But a spokesman said later that pricing will vary based on promotional offers and service bundling. For instance, triple-play subscribers will pay an extra $30 per month for the service.

The move by Suddenlink comes as other broadband providers are also embracing the smart home market, despite stiff competition from incumbent home security vendors and other players. Earlier this week, for instance, Light Reading reported that Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) appears on the verge of re-launching its widely anticipated home monitoring service. (See Verizon Smart Home Service Inches Closer.)

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Suddenlink's plunge into the smart home market also comes just three weeks after the MSO announced plans to upgrade all its cable markets to provide 1Gbit/s service by 2017. Under its $230 million Operation GigaSpeed initiative, the company expects to carry out nearly half of the planned gigabit service launches by the end of next year, with most of the remainder expected to be completed in 2016. (See Suddenlink Joins Gigabit Club.)

— Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading