PCCA Journal|3
rd
Quarter 2015
34
Telecom News
Continued from page 33
Lawmakers Seek Lifetime
Assistance for Broadband
S
en. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-
N.J.), and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) introduced
legislation to reform and modernize the Universal
Service Fund (USF) Lifeline Assistance Program—
which currently subsidizes basic landline and mobile phone
services for low-income Americans—by making subsidies
for broadband Internet services also available to eligible
households. The Broadband Adoption Act of 2015, which is
cosponsored by four other Democratic senators, will instruct
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish
a broadband Lifeline Assistance program and will help bridge
the digital divide by making in-home online services more
affordable across the country.
The introduction of the Broadband Adoption Act comes
just days after the FCC announced a new effort to usher the
Lifeline Program into the Internet Age. Murphy, Booker, and
Matsui praised the FCC’s proposal and hope that the FCC,
which has the authority to update the Lifeline Program on its
own, makes subsidized Internet access available to tens of
millions low-income Americans.
“Whether you’re looking to find a job, enroll in health
insurance, shop online, or communicate with your child’s
teacher, Internet access today is absolutely essential to eco-
nomic and social well-being,” Murphy said. “But the facts
state clearly that low-income Americans disproportionately
lack access to broadband service and the opportunities that
come with it. In Connecticut, thousands of residents in places
like Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford have one hand tied
behind their back because they lack the ability to pay for an
Internet connection. Our Broadband Adoption Act will help
put an end to this inequity and ensure that Lifeline contin-
ues to provide the life-changing services it was created to
provide.”
The FCC has estimated that nearly 100 million Americans
Study Sees Boom in
Security Monitoring Services
A
growing roster of smart
home services and device
providers are using home
security monitoring as a
beachhead to introduce home automa-
tion services. In the key U.S. market, a
bellwether for developed markets around
the world, some 15 million more U.S.
homes will invest in new connected
home security services in the next five
years, according to ABI Research.
“After decades where penetration into
U.S. households stalled, home security
adoption is set for significant growth.
However, it will not be the sole preserve
of traditional professionally monitored
home security providers. Consumers
can now choose from an array of non-
traditional suppliers, new technologies,
and innovative services that balance
value with cost,” said Jonathan Collins,
principal analyst.
Through managed smart home offer-
ings from retailers such as Lowes and
Staples as well as standalone devices
such as video cameras from Dropcam
or smart locks from Kwikset, consumers
increasingly have the option to install
and monitor their own security systems.
Demand for such smart home systems
will outpace those for traditional profes-
sional monitored security subscriptions
as, among other attractions, they ditch
the installation fees, monthly payments,
and long service contracts of the tradi-
tional offerings.
At the same time, professionally moni-
tored security service providers such
as Frontpoint Security and NextAlarm
offer solutions where users self-install
their devices, or can integrate existing
dormant installations into new IP-based
services.
“Self-install and self-monitor home
security solutions are real threats to the
standard business models offered by
traditional vendors,” said ABI Research
Practice Director Dan Shey. “While
matching these solutions is one option,
traditional vendors need to look for ways
to better integrate their core services
with partner smart home services. These
can range from call-center monitoring as
a plug-in service to bringing home video
monitoring into the call center.