Mobile phone provider Vodafone has officially launches its smart home IoT service, powered by Samsung SmartThings in Spain, with more countries expected to follow soon.
The move sees Vodafone become the first operator in the Spanish market to offer such a service, following its initial introduction at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year.
Designed to allow “customers to know what happens in their homes at any time and place,” Vodafone One has unveiled its V-Home Internet of Things service which will be bundled in with its “all-in-one” fibre, mobile and TV packages.
The V-Home service will be available for premium Vodafone One customers (aka 1Gbps and 300Mb fibre), who will have it included in their regular rate. Its next tier of customer (on a 120Mb package), will be able to access the service for free for a year, whereas One Fibre 50Mb customers can access the service for subscription cost of €7 per month.
Other Vodafone customers can purchase Safety Starter Kit outlined below with financing in any Vodafone sales channel for an initial cost of €299.9 and €11/month for 24 months plus the monthly subscription for the €7 V-Home service/month. Customers of other operators who have an Internet, fibre or DSL connection in their home can also purchase the service.
The fruits of its “exclusive” partnership with Samsung, the V-Home kit is built around the SmartThings hub, with all devices controllable via the customer’s smartphone and allowing them to monitor their home wherever they may be.
The V-Home Safety Starter Kit includes: a V-Home SmartThings Hub, a video camera for day and night monitoring (storing images in the cloud for up to 14 days/10GB limit), a sensor (for monitoring doors/windows and temperature) and a siren (can sound up to 85 decibels and emit light) connected to the hub via ZigBee.
Services offered by V-Home:
V-Home Monitor: includes monitoring/alerts in the SmartThings app.
V-Home Alarm Assistant: provides immediate notifications (up to 6 times in 15 mins) when the system detects movement in home via the app, SMS or phone.
V-Home Video: offers live feeds of the home to the user’s mobile.
The starter package offered by Vodafone can be bolstered with add-ons including a “detection kit” including a water and smoke sensor and “automation kit” incorporating a motion sensor, smart plug and LED bulb.
Although the packages offered by Vodafone may appear fairly basic in terms of functionality compared to a fully integrated custom system, undeniably the increasing focus of telecoms companies such as T-Mobile and Vodafone on packing their services with home technology is a growing threat. Spain is the first country Vodafone has introduced its V-Home to, but word is that Vodafone hopes to roll out the service to more European countries soon.