2021.07.09 – Open Broadband News

Well that’s smart! Sales soar for Smart Home devices

 Global consumer spending on smart home solutions is set to grow to $123 billion (€104bn) in 2021 after declining in 2020 due to the economic impact of Covid-19 according to research published in Strategy Analytics’ 2021 Global Smart Home Forecast.

Strategy Analytics forecasts global consumer spending in 2021 on smart home products and services will break through the $100 billion mark after falling short in 2020 due to the pandemic. Consumers that postponed installations are fulfilling their planned purchases as 30 million additional households acquire smart systems in 2021. The market will continue to grow to $173 billion in 2025 when nearly 20 per cent of all households globally have at least one smart home product in use up from 15 per cent by the end of 2021.

Bill Ablondi, Director of Strategy Analytics’ Smart Home Strategies advisory service, said: “The smart home market is recovering from the economic and social distancing impacts caused by the pandemic and after spending more time at home consumers are seeking ways to improve their home and are finding that smart home solutions offer enhancements they value.”

Up, up and away! OneWeb sends 36 broadband satellites to the skies

OneWeb has put up another 36 satellites, taking its in-orbit constellation to 146 spacecraft. The new platforms were lofted by a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s far east.

The additions will enable engineers to further test the company’s promised system for delivering broadband internet connections from space.

Bharti Global, the new management, anticipates offering a commercial service this autumn to northern latitudes – including Britain, Northern Europe, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Arctic Seas – with a full global roll-out of connectivity in mid-2022.

“We have what we call ‘five to 50’ (degrees latitude). So, that’s five launches we need to do in order to get to this coverage of basically the south coast of the UK to the North Pole,” explained Chief Executive Neil Masterson. “By the end of June we will have completed those launches to enable us to be providing our service. But in total this year, we expect to be doing somewhere between eight and 10 launches.”

Telcos pushed to the side in Enterprise 5G – according to Omdia

Telecom operators recognize the importance of serving the potentially lucrative enterprise 5G market, but they are not yet fully equipped to do so. As a result, they are losing out to alternative players and even to enterprise users themselves, according to a new industry report.

Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are the lead partners in just 16% of the 600 plus enterprise 5G projects identified globally up to and including Q1 2021, down from 21% a year earlier, according to the second annual enterprise 5G report from BSS provider Beyond by BearingPoint, which is based on research conducted by analyst firm Omdia. That decline comes in a market in which the number of enterprise 5G projects doubled during the 12 months to the end of March 2021, a stat that makes pretty gloomy reading for the operators.

“Overall, its strategy adapts to what the customer wants – it has a deeper vertical understanding and it does not need to balance diverse company priorities like the larger players do,” the reports notes.

More than 3 million US homes sign up to FFC emergency broadband help

More than 3.3 million homes have now enrolled in the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, according to the latest data released by the federal agency.

Weekly sign ups have ranged from 20,000 to 400,000 in recent weeks, since the first full-week high of 1.2 million enrolments. Thus far, $34.6 million of the $3.2 billion emergency fund has been allocated. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is set to end once all the money is spent or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the COVID-19 health emergency, whichever comes first.

Speaking to the Open Technology Institute, FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that it’s clear from the number of enrolments that a long-term affordability benefit is needed.

“For months, we pointed to surveys to show that too many Americans are worried about how to pay their broadband bill. But more than one million enrolees in one week proves beyond any doubt that too many households are struggling to afford to get online. As of this week, that number exceeds three million and continues to grow,” Rosenworcel said.