An increase in networked devices in the home, such as tablets, set top boxes (STB), HDTVs, smartphones, and web-enabled media players, has generated interest in and need for capable home network delivery systems.
Though Wi-Fi networks are still the most dominant form of home networks, the demand for more bandwidth-consuming applications is causing service providers to turn to wired networking solutions that can deliver higher speeds with more reliability than wireless 802.11x standards can. That demand propelled non-Ethernet home networking node shipments past the 40 million units in 2010, according to In-Stat
“Wiring a home with Ethernet is costly and often requires service providers to send out technicians to drill through walls and pull Cat5 cabling,” said Vahid Dejwakh, analyst at In-Stat. Instead, service providers are turning to existing wires inside the home, which can deliver their network: power line, coax, and phone line. However, not only is there competition over the type of wire to deliver the network, there are also different standards within each wire type that are not always interoperable.”
These standards include HomePlug, MoCA, and HomePNA. According to the new research, HomePlug shipped the highest number of nodes in 2010. MoCA experienced the greatest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46 percent over the 2007 through 2010 time period.
According to the report, China is expected to surpass the US in 2011 as the country with the most home networks. HomePlug dominates Router/Gateway home networking units throughout the forecast period. The same cannot be said for set top boxes, which is dominated by MoCA. However, G.hn will make impressive gains in set top boxes, becoming the second most popular standard by 2013 and challenging MoCA by 2015.
The report covered companies such as Cox Communications, D-Link, DS2, Entropic, Gigle Networks, Intel, Intellon, Lantiq, Marvell, Motorola, NETGEAR, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Sigma Designs, Texas Instruments, and Verizon Wireless.
By TelecomLead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
