Moscow, Berlin and Paris now leaders in Smart Home availability

Moscow’s Information Technologies Department has carried out a study of smart home monthly tariffs charged by operators in various countries. The tariffs are lowest in Moscow and Berlin, and highest in Dubai. The tariffs cover the installation of equipment (devices, sensors etc.), as well as rental and servicing costs for a minimum period of three years. The minimum tariff charged by Moscow operators for smart home solutions is €7.6 per month, compared to €7.9 in Berlin and €12.5 in Paris, which holds third place in the ranking. The most expensive city is Dubai, at €21.9 per month. Also included in the ranking were Sydney, London and Toronto, which came fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, “With the development of digital technologies, smart home devices are becoming more and more popular amongst Muscovites. More than 5% of Moscow families have already bought and use such devices, while in some countries, such as Norway, Denmark (and other Scandinavian countries), as well as the United States, one in four families are already using smart home devices,” stress the authors of the study. The analysts predict that the global smart home device market will grow at an average annual rate of over 20% to reach 1.3 bn devices in 2022. “Telecoms operators are active players in the smart home market. At present, more than half of the world’s major telecoms operators offer smart home solutions with devices and special tariffs,” states the study. The Information Technologies Department has also compiled a list of the most popular types of smart home equipment. This covers 24 devices, including plant care sensors, smoke detectors, air quality sensors, water leak detectors, and opening and closing sensors, each of which is included in the tariff of at least one operator in each city. The devices are divided into four categories: ecology, security, light & electricity, and hardware. The largest number of devices is available within the tariffs offered in Berlin and Dubai – 15 each. Second place on this indicator is held by Toronto, with 14 devices. In London, 9 devices are available, compared to 10 in Moscow and 11 in Paris. The study looked at over 30 leading telecoms operators in 9 countries, focusing on the cost of their minimum smart home tariff plan under a minimum 3-year contract. The study reveals that 42% of telecoms operators in megacities do not supply smart home services, 32% sell devices and offer special tariffs, and 26% sell smart home devices but do not offer tariffs covering their connection and servicing. Reference: The Department of Information Technologies of Moscow (DIT) has been rapidly developing and actively growing for the past 5 years. During these years we have created over a thousand systems and services and we are pursuing the target of launching around 300 new projects annually. Today, we are proud of having digitalized over 166 state services, this is obviously more than any other region of Russia. Moreover, within the last years we have created an outstanding number of 178 portals, including the official Mayor and Government of Moscow web-site “mos.ru”​. Our systems cover over 60 industries and penetrate into each aspect of Moscow citizens’​ everyday lives, our products and services include: •           Electronic queue for Civil registry office; •           Arrangement of remote medical appointments; •           Personal electronic medical records; •           Children assignment to kindergardens/schools/extracurricular activities; •           Providing schools with cutting edge technological equipment; •           Obtaining references, enquiries and services remotely; •           Numerous projects in housing and public amenities, starting from telemetrics and energetics to the possibility of submitting water usage information. Current structure of the Department distinguishes up to 30 unique products and programmes, including medical and education systems informatization, creation of crowdsourcing platforms, development of various resources and portals for Moscow and its citizens. We are aimed at continuing the process of effective informatization of the city with an emphasis on innovation development and advanced technologies application.