News
Verizon Seeks Killer Apps
By Masha Zager
Jun 13, 2007, 17:56

Verizon is building out fiber to millions of homes. Now it wants to give customers good reasons to use these "big pipes."

Since beginning its rollout of fiber-to-the-home in 2004, Verizon has tried to give customers compelling reasons – other than disliking their local cable provider – to switch to FiOS, its high-speed Internet and video services. The company has introduced a series of applications that take advantage of FiOS’ capabilities, ranging from online gaming to TV “widgets” (on-screen weather and traffic updates) to online backup for businesses.

Which apps will attract the customers who aren't "early adopters"?

With FiOS Internet now available to about 7 million homes and slated to reach 18 million in 2010, Verizon is searching for still more applications that will draw customers to the quad play of FiOS and wireless. “We’re in the era of mass customization,” says  Marjorie Hsu, Verizon’s VP for services technology, explaining that the company’s strategy is to target different applications to different market segments, rather than identifying a single “killer app” that will appeal to everyone. Hsu’s division, an internal think tank that bubbles up ideas for developing and marketing new broadband applications, is looking at market segments as diverse as small- to mid-sized businesses, families with children and senior communities.

Promoting Independent Living for Seniors

For example, for senior communities, Verizon wants to use broadband to promote wellness and enable independent living. It is working with device manufacturers to put together a home health package that might include remote monitoring of a variety of chronic medical conditions, as well as delivery of relevant health information via video-on-demand. For families with children, Verizon is readying a child-safe PC portal and support for parents to guide children’s Internet usage.

Early adopters of FiOS have been like the early adopters of any new technology – knowledgeable and adventurous. The availability of high bandwidth intrigues them because they are willing and able to learn the new applications it enables. But since early adopters constitute only a small percentage of the population, Hsu says that Verizon’s challenge is to make high-bandwidth services easy and inviting enough for everyone who could benefit from them. In the case of the senior home health application, this might include using simplified device controls with large buttons and amplified audio; child-friendly cell phones and remotes are also being developed.

Hsu envisions delivering applications seamlessly to all screens – TV, PC, wireless devices and combination devices like the forthcoming 'Verizon One' Home Communications Center. “The applications should be converged both outside the home and within the home,” she says.

A Home Services Gateway

Verizon is also developing a home services gateway, which is at the heart of its in-home architecture, as an enabling technology that will help it deliver new services. When it is installed on the broadband home router, the gateway will act as a command and control center for remote provisioning and configuration of broadband-connected devices. “It will take the pain out of customers getting their devices usable,” Hsu says.

The gateway will remove pain for Verizon as well, since it is expected to reduce the amount of technical support the company must provide in order to get customers up and running on FiOS. It should also cut down the time to market for new services, since these services can be plugged into a common architecture.

The first service integrated with the gateway, expected in early 2008, will let users share their digital media – photos, videos, documents, music – among all broadband devices within the home and wireless devices outside the home. For example, subscribers could use their laptop computers while they are traveling to listen to music collections they have stored on their home computers or storage devices.

After the media sharing service, Verizon expects to roll out additional applications in rapid succession. By the end of next year, customers will be able to manage a wide variety of home controls – including heat, power, security cameras, water sensors – from a simple interface either inside or outside the home.