Comcast completes acquisition of Icontrol's IoT and home security arm
Comcast has completed its acquisition of Icontrol Networks' Converge business, which creates Internet of Things (IoT) and connected home security solutions.
Converge already powers Comcast's XFinity Home, in that it allows Comcast to communicate with and manage security sensors that are part of Xfinity Home, and also supports home-automation devices like cameras and thermostats.
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While the terms of the deal remain undisclosed, Comcast SVP and XFinity Home general manager Daniel Herscovici explained in a blog post that the acquisition will give the company full control over Icontrol's research and development roadmap. Specifically, it will allow the company to accelerate the pace of XFinity Home's development, especially in the area of connected home security, Herscovici wrote.
The acquisition will also allow the company to establish what it is calling an "IoT Center of Excellence" where engineers and developers will work on products to support its various IoT businesses in collaboration with Comcast's teams across the US.
The acquisition, which was first announced in June last year, will also allow Comcast to provide wholesale services to new domestic and international customers. Further details on the new wholesale line will be disclosed at a later date, Herscovici wrote.
The acquired Converge platform powers many multiple-service operator's (MSO) smart home businesses around the world, including Time Warner Cable's Intelligent Home and Telstra's Smart Home Hub. Moving forward, Comcast will provide an unbranded version of Converge to other MSOs.
The company has also invested in IoT through the creation of its machineQ industrial IoT venture in October last year. MachineQ has been deploying Semtech's LoRa wireless radio frequency technology to power IoT connections in Philadelphia and San Francisco, with a particular focus on smart cities infrastructure.
Comcast said at the time that machineQ will initially work with commercial customers to create proof-of-concepts that gather and analyse data from multiple endpoints. If the trials are successful, the company said in October that it will commercially deploy the technology in the next 18 to 30 months.
Meanwhile, security and smart home services vendor Alarm.com completed its acquisition of Icontrol's Connect and Piper business units for approximately $140 million. Connect is an interactive security and home automation platform, while Piper, based in Ottawa, Canada, designs, produces, and sells a WiFi-enabled video and home automation hub.
Combined, the two businesses give Alarm.com "technology infrastructure, talent, key relationships, and new hardware devices," the company said in June 2016.