This project measures and analyzes consumers’ familiarity with IP or connected home services as well as their interest in these services and their features.

• Likes and dislikes about core service features in security and safety, energy, health, and home control, plus the additional fees they are willing to pay
• Inhibitors and catalysts for different service combinations
• Bundle rankings based on consumer selections across categories
• Segmentations of broadband households based on their interest in one or more IP services, attitudes, and current CE ownership & service subscriptions
• Three-year forecasts for subscriptions and revenues, based on consumer data and industry knowledge, across multiple IP bundle configurations
• Current consumer activities pertinent to IP services (e.g., hours spent and activities on smartphones and PCs)
• Concept testing for IP services to determine optimal service bundles, identify likely early adopters, and assess impact of program conditions (e.g., installation time, contract requirements, hardware costs)

IP-based services can also connect consumers so that they can access their home services on smartphones, tablets, PCs, or any IP-connected device both in and outside the home. The net effect is to provide the consumer with more options for when and where information and alerts are delivered. Concurrently, the service provider has new ways to monetize its IP backbone and deepen relationships with subscribers.

• Broadband Services: Global Outlook
  

  This report analyzes the growth prospects for broadband services around the world, including the impact of the global recession on consumer adoption and spending. It also examines major broadband service features, trends, and shifts in current business models designed to monetize investments in next-generation broadband infrastructures. It also includes forecasts of broadband adoption by household for the world as well as by region.

  “The need for information and communication services persists despite current recessionary economic conditions,” said Jayant Dasari, research analyst, Parks Associates. “Consumers are less likely to cancel Internet access and broadband services than other residential services, such as phone services, pay TV, and monitored security. However, with the commoditization of bandwidth, service providers have had to adjust business models to remain competitive, which includes marketing bundled services.”

• Set-top Boxes and Residential Gateway Middleware and Applications
  

  Set-top Box and Residential Gateway Middleware and Applications analyzes the status, trends, and future direction of the global market for set-top box (STB) and residential gateway middleware and applications. This report examines the technologies, vendors, standards, and solutions for set-top and gateway systems prevalent in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, and other global markets. The report explores deployment issues, the shift to “cloud-based” services, the growth of web-based solutions, trends in applications and their development, and support. The report also provides a global forecast for STBs and residential gateway systems as well as implications for operators and solution providers.

  “As pay-TV and broadband services have grown worldwide, the set-top box and residential gateway have become key systems in the digital home,” said Brett Sappington, a senior analyst at Parks Associates. “Operators and CE manufacturers are adding new functionality and services to set-tops and gateways, and middleware is a critical enabling technology. New trends in STB and residential gateway applications are resulting in a personalized experience for subscribers, including interactive program guides, TV Everywhere implementations, customizable widgets, search and recommendation, tablet and smartphone interaction, and other innovations. Operators and solution providers who can deliver these new features will have a decided market advantage.”