The appearance of a new Verizon home automation gateway, developed with Greenwave Systems, signals the imminent launch of a new smart home service.

Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video

September 2, 2014

3 Min Read
Verizon Smart Home Service Inches Closer

Verizon appears to be on the verge of launching its anticipated new home monitoring service.

The operator seemed to have abandoned the sector when it shuttered its home monitoring service in 2013. However, details of its planned return were revealed in March when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shared details about a new Verizon home automation gateway called the FiOS G1100.

Now that gateway has appeared online on the Verizon FiOS website.

As reported on the Zatz Not Funny blog, one Verizon customer looked into upgrading his current router and found the FiOS Quantum Gateway Model G1100 listed as an option, albeit with a broken image link.

That model includes a module produced by Internet of Things (IoT) company Greenwave Systems (formerly GreenWave Reality) with support for the Zigbee and Z-Wave wireless protocols in addition to 802.11ac WiFi.

Verizon has not yet responded to questions about the product. Greenwave was able to confirm that Verizon is a customer, but could not offer any further details on the service provider's smart home plans.

Verizon certainly isn't the only operator pursuing home automation. Cable and telecom service providers are hot on using smart home applications to create a new revenue stream for their broadband networks. However, operators of both persuasions are up against major competitors in the retail, mobile, and utility sectors. And many consumers still have to be convinced that smart home services are worth paying for. (See IoT Alert: Samsung Snaps Up SmartThings and Betting on Smart Homes.)

Want to know more about the Internet of Things? Check out our dedicated IoT content channel here on Light Reading.

There are also a number of IoT platform providers on the scene making the competitive field even more interesting. Greenwave is one, and it has so far been successful by positioning itself as a platform that translates between different types of IoT software.

In a recent interview, Greenwave's new chief scientist and technology evangelist Jim Hunter shied away from calling the technology middleware. Instead, he chose to describe it with an analogy: Hunter noted that some people think of a technology platform as a shelf, but "what we're building at Greenwave is a fabric, and a fabric that's sewn into devices -- in and around and on things that we have in our lives."

Hunter also commented on where he thinks smart home application providers are going wrong today. He explained that while most companies are creating smart home apps that are designed to keep users immersed in an application, he doesn't think that's a useful long-term strategy.

"We would like to be able to offer the ability for you to use the calendars you already have to schedule these things [i.e. configuring your connected appliances]; to have these elements show up as being part of your normal daily life rather than, 'Oh I've gotta go into the scheduling app to do this' -- that's different than what you schedule the kids going to their rehearsal with."

The smart home industry isn't necessarily buying in to the Greenwave vision yet, but the company is nonetheless gaining significant traction with its technology. During the past year, the company increased revenues by 400% and raised its employee count by 65% to more than 200 people. In addition to Verizon, current clients include DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV), European utility company E.ON, and TCP Lighting. (See GreenWave Crashes Smart Homes.)

— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Mari Silbey

Senior Editor, Cable/Video

Mari Silbey is a senior editor covering broadband infrastructure, video delivery, smart cities and all things cable. Previously, she worked independently for nearly a decade, contributing to trade publications, authoring custom research reports and consulting for a variety of corporate and association clients. Among her storied (and sometimes dubious) achievements, Mari launched the corporate blog for Motorola's Home division way back in 2007, ran a content development program for Limelight Networks and did her best to entertain the video nerd masses as a long-time columnist for the media blog Zatz Not Funny. She is based in Washington, D.C.

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