New Kids on the Block

The home security market has been a rapidly changing environment over the past several years, with self-monitored offerings cropping up everywhere as well as a host of large, national cable companies coming into the picture with connected lifestyle services that include energy monitoring and home security. There have been moves from outsiders into the home security space before, with national and regional telecom and cable providers entering (and exiting) the marketplace, but the current market seems ripe for newcomers who can tap into their large, existing customer base and add on security, entertainment and energy management options to their customers’ existing bills.

The cable and wireless giants — AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and Rogers — have all entered the home monitoring market with some kind of offering. A host of other cable companies also have entered the market, including Cox Communications, Comporium, Frontier Communications, New Wave Communications and Massillon Cable TV Inc. The effect that this penetration into the home security market will have on the larger security industry is yet to be seen, but with close to 78 million broadband service subscribers in the United States, it would appear that the cable companies have a wide network of existing customers to sell these additional services to. Exactly what each of these companies is selling and for how much differs widely, but one thing is for sure: new technologies and a changing consumer base have made it possible for each of them to enter the marketplace with a bang.