AT&T announces plan to offer all-digital home security
AT&T Inc. is moving beyond cellphone and Internet service and getting into home automation and security.
The wireless giant Monday announced plans for an all-digital, Internet-connected system that it said would give users “unparalleled control and security” of their homes using Web-enabled devices such as PCs, tablets and smartphones.
The company said it was planning a nationwide launch, with trials of the service to begin in Atlanta and Dallas this summer.
AT&T joins several other companies that are seeing revenue opportunities in home security. Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and other cable companies, which are facing myriad challenges to their core businesses, are using the broadband in their subscribers’ homes to offer home security systems. AT&T rival Verizon Communications Inc. also has a home security offering.
AT&T said window and door sensors, door locks and thermostats would be wirelessly enabled to connect to the Internet-based AT&T Digital Life platform inside the home. The system will also give users access to energy and water controls.
“Checking on the welfare of loved ones, protecting your home from intruders, fire or water damage, unlocking a door for the repairman or changing the temperature setting on the thermostat — and doing it from wherever you happen to be, here or abroad — can be as easy as if you were right at home,” the company said.
AT&T said Digital Life will also provide professional installation of the platform, sensors and other devices; AT&T owned and operated 24/7 security monitoring centers; and the ability to manage and control services from the U.S. or abroad.
