Archive for July, 2011

Gothenburg, Sweden – July 12, 2011: According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.4 percent between 2010 and 2016 to reach 130.5 million at the end of the period. Annual investments in smart metering technology are forecasted to exceed € 3 billion by the mid-2010s. Smart meters help consumers better manage their energy usage and create financial incentives for energy savings. Moreover they constitute the core building blocks in future smart grids that will support electric vehicle charging, renewable micro-generation and advanced energy conservation.

Following major rollouts in Italy and the Nordic region, smart meters are now being introduced on a massive scale in Spain, France and the UK. “Endesa has commenced with a rollout to 12.9 million customers in Spain and the second largest electricity network operator Iberdrola will follow”, said Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight. “ERDF is awaiting formal approval from the government for a nationwide rollout to 33 million customers in France and in the UK the leading energy suppliers British Gas and E.ON have committed to the deployment of several million smart meters prior to the start of a mass rollout in 2014. By that time there will also be massive installations in additional countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland and Norway”.

For the first time, there are also plans for major smart metering projects in Central Eastern Europe. CEZ in the Czech Republic and Energa in Poland have announced large scale pilots as the first step towards full-scale installations. Energa has the most advanced plan to achieve full coverage for smart meters among its 3 million electricity customers by 2017.

About Berg Insight
Berg Insight offers premier business intelligence to the telecom industry. We produce concise reports providing key facts and strategic insights about pivotal developments in our focus areas. Our vision is to be the most valuable source of intelligence for our customers.

For additional information, please contact:
Johan Fagerberg, CEO
E-mail: johan.fagerberg@berginsight.com
Phone: +46 31 711 30 91
Twitter: www.twitter.com/berginsight

Gothenburg, Sweden – July 1, 2011: According to a new research report by Berg Insight, the number of new smart home installations worldwide was 0.44 million in 2010. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65 percent, this number is expected to reach 5.38 million by 2015. The total revenues will simultaneously grow at a CAGR of 32.8 percent from US$ 2.3 billion in 2010 to almost US$ 9.5 billion in 2015.

Smart homes and connected home technologies have been around for decades, but up till recently, this has been a niche segment either for the very affluent or extreme technophiles. “Things are changing for this industry due to a perfect confluence of market, regulatory, strategic and technology trends”, according to the report’s lead analyst Alan A. Varghese. “First is the pull from consumers in the mobile age, who desire to use products such as iPhones and iPads to control their lifestyles through user-friendly interfaces. The regulatory drivers come from governments, whereby countries and utilities are mandated to better control the generation, distribution and consumption of power in residences. The strategic push comes from new entrants such as broadband providers who are already inside consumers’ homes and are looking for the next opportunities to increase ARPU, reduce churn and become complete solution providers. Finally the technology piece is coming together with increasing focus on interoperability, even as the cost of modules, chipsets, and software is trending down”, says Varghese.

There is an increasing shift in smart home technology adoption from custom and luxury residences to mainstream and production homes. Whereas only 0.1 percent of mainstream homes had any form of automation in 2010, almost 4 percent will have that by 2015. Furthermore, since new housing construction is in a slump worldwide, vendors are focusing their attention on retrofit of existing housing stock, and easy-to-deploy technologies such as wireless. Berg Insight finds that this market will soon be crowded with dealer-installers from traditional industries such as security service providers, as well as new entrants such as broadband, wireless and utilities service providers, so finding the right partnerships, business models and pricing is key to success.

About Berg Insight
Berg Insight offers premier business intelligence to the telecom industry. We produce concise reports providing key facts and strategic insights about pivotal developments in our focus areas. Our vision is to be the most valuable source of intelligence for our customers.

For additional information, please contact:
Johan Fagerberg, CEO
E-mail: johan.fagerberg@berginsight.com
Phone: +46 31 711 30 91
Twitter: www.twitter.com/berginsight