Home net installation market big business

For a technology to make it in the mainstream world, it has to be affordable and easy to use. Home network gear has become affordable, but ease of use still lags far behind. And although technology specifications built to improve ease of use are in the works, such as Universal Plug and Play, CableHome and the Open Standards Gateway Initiative, their impact is still far off, creating a potentially lucrative market for home network installation services.

But if you needed a home network installed today, where would you turn?

CompUSA hopes you'd turn to one of its 254 stores. To differentiate it from other consumer electronic retail giants Best Buy and Circuit City, CompUSA seven years ago began building a PC home repair and upgrade field services business that today blankets the country. The service quickly expanded to include all hardware products the retailer sells, including home network gear.

"Over the past two years, networks have become the fastest-growing category," says Brian Woods, CompUSA's vice president of technology services. The retailer now stocks three in-home installation packages. For the $99 package, a technician will come to your home and connect two PCs; for the $149 package, two PCs to a broadband connection; for $199, three PCs to broadband. The prices don't include the cost of Category 5 cabling, and CompUSA technicians don't snake cables, but instead run them along baseboards and under rugs. If you request a permanent installation, the company will subcontract the work to a local installer. But cabling issues don't crop up much anymore. Nearly 70% of customers buy 802.11b wireless gear.

Business is booming. Two years ago, the company averaged 300 network installations per month. Today, it averages 18,000. "It's starting to be a real business," Woods says.

Network installations are just one of the company's ambitious plans to remake its image and quash the competition by capturing the emerging connected home market.

In its Plano, Texas, store, the company recently unveiled its first connected home design. A series of kiosks that display home control, automation and entertainment solutions, the center shows consumers how the various electronic equipment available today can work together. The company will soon open design centers in Aurora, Colo., and Atlanta.

"We don't want them to see a TV the same way they have for 25 years, but view it through the technology we have today," Woods says. "We show how you can play a DVD in the living room, hit pause, then finish watching it in the master bedroom. At Circuit City, you can buy the components. But we'll show you how the pieces work together and how they integrate."

Grass-roots effort

Not everyone wants to rely on a big retail chain for home integration services. The draw of putting money back into your local community to receive ongoing personalized service is still strong, says Chris Kaminsky. But how do you find someone? Eight months ago, Kaminsky, the founder and editor of HomeNetHelp.com, a Web site devoted to home network technology, started a database of local network installers that has grown to 300 in nearly every state and a few in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. To serve them, on Aug. 1, Kaminsky launched a network installer/integrator association called The FutureHome Guild.

For an association fee of about $150 per year, Kaminsky helps educate installers on the latest and upcoming technologies through articles and case studies, helps them market their services and plans to develop standardized literature. The community also collaborates on research projects, such as finding ways to best implement a remote access solution for home users. There are 300 members so far.

Kaminsky is developing a sponsorship program for network hardware and services companies that lets them post literature on the FutureHome Guild Web site. There's a distinct gap between home network installation companies coming from the home automation side and those who are starting out on the pure digital side. FutureHome caters to the latter. "A lot of these folks do full-time IT work and are trying to start a home network integration consultancy," he says.

Despite Kaminsky's efforts, qualifying home installers isn't possible. "Before I put their listing in the directory, I talk to them and make sure they have an IT background. If they're in business already, we go through the materials on my Web site," he says. "I recommend, as with anyone you invite into your home, you do a little research, ask for references, and I encourage people in my directory to set up a decent Web site with references, pictures of their work and case studies."

By the book

As Kaminsky knows, it's no easy task to develop training and certification standards in an emerging category such as home network integration. Yet CompTIA, the global IT trade association that develops certifications for best practices and standards, is working to do just that. In partnership with the Internet Home Alliance, CompTIA is putting the finishing touches on a two-exam certification program for home network integrators called Home Technology Integrator or HTI+. Exam one covers residential systems such as lighting, water, security and HVAC controls, and computer and entertainment networks. Exam two covers low- and high-voltage structured wiring and integration.

"The home-integration piece is the most challenging considering there aren't a lot of standards," says Tim McGrath, CompTIA's HTI+ certification program manager. The exam is entry-level and vendor-neutral, so you won't see questions about how to install a particular vendor's products.

CompTIA doesn't develop training materials. Instead, it sets the objectives and target audience. Training centers such as Vue and Prometric then develop course curricula based on the certification. McGrath says you can expect to see HTI+ courses and training manuals this fall developed by Bradford Learning, Vue Testing Services, Prometric, Cisco Learning Institute, Marcraft and Heathkit Educational Systems.

To ensure the certification objectives remain current, CompTIA will enlist its HTI+ Cornerstone Committee to review it annually. Members include Sears, CompUSA, Best Buy, Cisco, Marcraft, Honeywell, Whirlpool, Internet Home Alliance, Home Director, Bradford Learning, Connected Lifestyles, Heathkit, Gateway and Panasonic.

"Right now it's a coin flip for who the consumer would choose," McGrath says. "A lot of integrators are excited about the certification because it enables them to differentiate from their competitors down the street. Consumers can't tell who's who. One bad installation might as well be done by all."

Even so, Kaminsky and Woods have qualms about the HTI+ program.

"It appears there's a major focus on home automation," Kaminsky says. "And there's usually a significant amount of lag time in updating these certifications. HTI+ might not cover digital convergence for quite a while. And how do you qualify someone if there aren't any standards? It's a difficult position that all of us are put in."

"CompUSA supports the certification, but because so many vendors try to drive the baseline, it's very hard for them to agree," Woods says. "Odds are, the end result won't really mesh with your company's objectives. Then there's the cost of pulling technicians out for training, paying to have 2,600 technicians take the test. With only a 50% pass rate, that's a lot of money. We already have training set up that specifically meets our needs."

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