Major communications provider O2 is to enter the UK’s domestic energy management sector by launching AT&T’s ‘Digital Life’ product.
The company will become the first in Europe to launch the platform which comprises a suite of home management and automation technologies.
US communications and entertainment company AT&T launched Digital Life in collaboration with technology company tado last year, offering a range of services including remote lighting and appliance control, energy usage monitoring and household security on a monthly contract basis.
The platform uses an interface controlled and viewed using a mobile app which O2 will offer to its 25 million broadband, mobile and landline customers in the UK. Through the app, customers will be able to remotely control and monitor their thermostats, water consumption and electricity use.
David Plumb, digital director at O2, said the aim was to bring together a “leading platform, smart home device and service provider” to allow customers in the UK to “enjoy the everyday benefits of smart technology in their homes”.
“We are pleased to announce our collaboration with AT&T for their Digital Life platform which will integrate old and new devices around the home, and tado for their truly smart heating control. We are also keen to hear from others who want to join our ecosystem,” Plumb added.
Tado founder Christian Deilmann said: “There are perfect synergies between the collaborators on this project. At tado we focus purely on climate control. We deliver products and intelligent algorithms for the highest possible comfort and efficiency at home. Together with O2 and AT&T, customers can experience a truly comprehensive smart home.”
More details regarding O2’s plans for the sector and the services it is to offer are to be announced later today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The launch will however be seen as a direct challenge to the likes of Google’s Nest digital thermostat which is already an established presence in the UK market. Other smart meters and thermostats have also concentrated their attentions on the UK market in recent months with the country still some way off its target of installing a smart meter in every home and business by 2020.
