Alarm.com traditionally has focused its business on working with thousands of independent home security dealers, but the company plans to move more aggressively with a strategy centered on partnerships with cable operators and other ISPs now that it has sealed up a deal for a piece of Icontrol.

RELATED: Comcast Closes Icontrol Deal

“We think we’ll be a very relevant party for the MSO channel and the telecom channel,” Dan Kerzner, Alarm.com’s chief product officer, said.

Comcast acquired Icontrol’s ZigBee-based “Converge” platform, already used for Xfinity Home and for some smart home and security services used by several other cable operators. Alarm.com bought Icontrol’s Z-wave-facing Connect platform, which is used by home security giant ADT and a wide range of dealers. Alarm.com also bought Piper, the Ottawa, Canada-based piece of Icontrol that makes and sells a retail do-it-yourself smart home platform.

RELATED: Comcast, Alarm.com Divvy Up Icontrol Networks

Alarm.com, which works with about 6,000 dealers, had about 2.6 million properties using its service/platform at the end of 2015, and ADT’s web site currently says it has 6.5 million total customers.  Alarm.com plans to announced a revised, combined number when it reports quarterly results on Wednesday (March 15).

Alarm.com isn’t new to the MSO/ISP sector, as it does count Suddenlink (now part of Altice USA) among its known cable operator partners, but does plan to apply more resources to that market now that it has the Icontrol deal wrapped up.

RELATED: Alarm.com at Home With Suddenlink

“We're in active discussions with a variety of them [cable operators],” Kerzner said.

He and Alarm.com will have plenty of competition.

AT&T and Verizon already have their own home security and home automation products. Comcast, meanwhile, has already signaled that it will offer wholesale services to new customers in the U.S. and abroad. 

Cox Communications, Rogers Communications, and the systems formerly with Time Warner Cable and Bright House already base their respective smart home offerings on the piece of Icontrol that Comcast acquired. Among them, Rogers has already announced that, in addition to licensing X1 for a new IPTV service, it will also adopt Comcast’s new “Digital Home” product. Cox is also licensing X1 for its new Contour video service.

RELATED: Rogers Tightens Technology Ties to Comcast

Charter has not announced a formal going-forward product plan with respect to home security and home automation. Charter is still supporting TWC and Bright House customers that use the legacy platform, but said last June that it was assessing that part of its business.

The overall market is small but growing. The penetration of smart home systems will reach 3% of global households by 2018, and 7% by 2025, according to a recent forecast from IHS Markit, which also sees professionally monitored smart homes exceeding non-connected, traditionally monitored security systems in 2023.

Kerzner said Alarm.com’s acquisition will enable it to scale its platform and the R&D behind it, as it will combine development teams in Virginia, Denver, Florida and Boston, along with a presence in Silicon Valley.

According to this SEC filing, Alarm.com’s total cash consideration for its piece of Icontrol was $148.5 million.

The filing also disclosed that Alarm.com and Honeywell International had entered an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed against Alarm.com last month that tried to block the proposed deal, alleging that it violated antitrust law because the combined company would hold a 70% share of the “market for the provision of  Remote Services for dealer installed security systems.”  Terms of the settlement, which took effect after the closing of the Icontrol deal, were not disclosed. 

Comcast has completed its purchase of Internet of Things company Icontrol Networks, a move the company said will enhance its Xfinity Home security and automation business.

RELATED Comcast, Alarm.com Divvy Up Icontrol Networks

Comcast said it would acquire the Converge business of Icontrol in August , with Alarm.com agreeing to purchase Icontrol’s Silicon Valley and Ottawa business units, for about $140 million. Comcast and Icontrol did not reveal the financial terms of their agreement, but the deal makes sense especially since Converge built the platform that powers Xfinity Home.

RELATED: Why Comcast Is Buying Icontrol

In a blog post Wednesday, SVP and general manager of Comcast’s Xfinity Home Daniel Herscovici wrote that the purchase of the Converge unit gives Comcast “full control over our research and development roadmap,” which will allow the company to invest more strategically in the future.

He added that with the buy Comcast will develop an "IoT Center of Excellence" in Austin, Texas, Icontrol’s home base.

“This will be a key hub where our engineers and developers will design innovations to support our various IoT businesses,” Herscovici wrote, adding that engineers in Austin will work closely with teams in Philadelphia, Silicon Valley, and other locations.

Finally, he said the purchase opens up a new line of business for Xfinity Home.

“We will also be able to offer wholesale services to new customers, either domestic or international,” Herscovici wrote. “We have plans to make a more formal announcement about this new line of business soon.”

RELATED: Rogers Tightens Technology Ties to Comcast 

Comcast says its move to acquire of a big piece of Icontrol will enable the MSO’s Xfinity Home division innovate faster, gain access to a talented group of engineers, and open up wholesale opportunities as other operators look to expand their home security and automation businesses, or enter that marketplace.

“We’re focused heavily on the connected home security market and disrupting that market,” Dan Herscovici, senior vice president and general manager of Xfinity Home, said Thursday, soon after Comcast and Icontrol announced the deal.

He said that disruption is about “creating innovative user experiences and capabilities supporting or evolving what people might consider traditional home security.”

He noted that the overall market is growing at 2% to 3.5% (Comcast has more than 500,000 Xfinity Home customers), but that there’s a big opportunity in front of Comcast as some customers upgrade their systems while others are ripe to switch providers or are looking to take a smart home service for the first time.

“The opportunity in front of us is that there's 25 to 30 million households that have a monitored home security system, and of those, 70% are on an older, antiquated home security system,” Herscovici said. “We think that the solution we’re creating and the one that Icontrol unlocks, will allow us to give  consumers an amazing new set of features that will do two things… convince traditional home security subs to switch and convince people to jump in we provide  a lot more value.”

Comcast is buying Icontrol’s “Converge” platform, the piece of Xfinity Home that provides the service’s fundamental security “state machine,” which supports the engines, rules and requirements for that component.

Icontrol’s ZigBee-based Converge platform (Alarm.com is buying Icontrol’s Connect platform, which leans on Z-wave, is more focused on dealer installs, and counts ADT as its biggest customer) has already been working in concert with home-grown Comcast’s platform that supports a broader set of smart  home products, including those developed by Comcast as well as third-party devices from partners such as Nest, Chamberlain (garage door controllers), August (door locks) and Lutron (wireless light controllers and dimmers).

When put together, those platforms provide Comcast with a unified user experience and one app to control all of security and automation elements, but Comcast felt that buying the Icontrol piece will enable it to go faster and deepen that integration.

Icontrol, Herscovici said, “does a lot of things really, really well…Building everything yourself doesn’t always make a lot of sense…especially when you have a talented group of engineers that have been thinking about this for ten-plus years.”

Beyond Comcast’s own Xfinity Home product, Herscovici said the company is also excited about the wholesale/white-label business that the Icontrol acquisition will open up.

“Our hope is to grow both businesses,” he said. “They should be generally complementary, but we are prepared to support unique requirements of each of our customers just like any platform provider would do.”

Cox Communications, Rogers Communications and two MSOs just acquired by Charter -- Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks – have been using Icontrol for both security and their larger home automation platforms. Charter said it is still mulling how home security and automation services will fit into its longer-term strategy.

Of that group, Cox is already syndicating/licensing Comcast’s X1 platform for its next-gen Contour video platform.

In a move that shakes up the home security and automation market, Comcast and Alarm.com said they have struck agreements to buy different pieces of Icontrol.

Comcast is in line to buy the Austin division that built the platform powering the MSO’s Xfinity Home service, and Alarm.com set to acquire Icontrol’s Silicon Valley and Ottawa business units, which together include a platform used today by ADT and Icontrol’s retail-focused, do-it-yourself Piper product line. Alarm.com is paying $140 million to acquire its portion of the Icontrol assets. Comcast and Icontrol did not reveal the financial terms of their agreement. 

The announcement comes about two weeks after Stacey Higginbotham reported that Icontrol was in talks to sell its assets to Comcast and Alarm.com.

Comcast, which continues to expand on its own Works with Xfinity Home initiative for third-party connected-home products such as the Nest Learning Thermostat, has been using Icontrol’s platform since it launched its home security and automation service in 2010.

“The main business we are acquiring is Icontrol’s 'Converge' software platform,” Dan Herscovici, SVP and GM of Xfinity Home, explained in this blog post about the deal. “That platform powers the Xfinity Home touch-screen panel and back-end servers, allowing them to communicate with and manage security sensors in the home, as well as supporting home-automation devices like cameras and thermostats."

In addition to Comcast, Icontrol’s platform is also being used to power similar services from  Cox Communications, Rogers Communications, and Bell Aliant. Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, recently acquired by Charter Communications, have also relied on Icontrol for their respective smart home services. Charter confirmed last week that it is reducing its focus on sales of those products as it assesses that line of business, but that it will continue to support existing customers.

“We look forward to continuing to serve customers using the Converge software platform and to growing Icontrol’s wholesale business by accelerating the development of new services and features,” Herscovici noted, adding that Comcast will continue to invest it Icontrol’s technology for Xfinity Home subs as well as “enterprise-level” Converge customers.

He added that Icontrol employees in Austin who are joining Comcast will underpin a new Comcast “engineering center of excellence”  there, and work closely with Comcast’s engineers in Philadelphia and Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, Alarm.com, which counts Suddenlink (now part of Altice) among its customers, will snap up Icontrol’s Connect and Piper business units for $140 million, and expects to close it before the end of 2016. Connect provides security and home automation services for provides that include market-leader ADT, which has about 1.6 million subscribers. Piper, the Ottawa-based unit, makes and sells video and home automation hubs that was spawned by Icontrol’s 2014 acquisition of Blacksumac.

"This acquisition will enhance our research and development scale so that we can continue to deliver long-term value to our partners through innovative technology," Steve Trundle, president and CEO of Alarm.com, said in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming the Icontrol team and to building upon the solid relationships within their customer base." 

Raymond James acted as the financial advisor to Alarm.com on the deal. 

Charter Communications said it will continue to support  home security and home automaton services for customers who came on board via its merger with Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, but noted that it’s reducing its focus on sales of that product as it assesses that line of business. 

DSL Reports reported Thursday that an industry source indicated that Charter, which inherited the TWC and BHN smart home offering via the merger, might shut down that service. Charter, however, stressed that existing customers will continue to be supported.

“Existing Intelligent Home customers are being fully supported and will continue to be fully supported,” a Charter official said in a statement. “Intelligent Home is a new business for Charter and we are in the process of assessing it. While we assess the program we are reducing the focus on sales.”

The TWC and BHN home security and automation offering is powered by Icontrol, a company that works with several other cable operators, including Cox Communications, Comcast and Rogers Communications, and is reportedly in talks to sell its various assets and products  to Comcast and Alarm.com.  

The Internet of Things (IoT) was one of the big things at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, but connecting lights, locks, thermostats and other “smart” devices will represent a significant challenge for cable operators as they look to flesh out their home security and automation services in the months and years ahead.

For one thing, there’s no uniformity on how these devices work together, as they tend to use a range of connection protocols, including WiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth and Z-Wave.

Adding to the confusion is the emergence of smarthome frameworks, such as Apple Home Kit, The AllSeen Alliance, Google’s Weave, and a new “adaptive” smarthome plat form from Panasonic called ÔRA that is designed to work with the company’s own products, as well as third-party devices.

This challenge is not lost on cable operators, which view home automation and security as an important growth driver. In fact, several have already teamed up with Icontrol, including Comcast, Cox Communications, Rogers Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House. Suddenlink Communications (now part of Altice Group) has partnered with Alarm.com.

But that might not be enough. In fact, Comcast is already moving beyond Icontrol with a home-grown platform that supports the MSO’s own connected devices, as well as those from third parties that pass Comcast’s “Works with Xfinity Home” selection and certification program. Comcast is expected to explore licensing its new smart-home platform to other operators, as it’s now doing with its IP-capable X1 video platform. AT&T is also trying to license its platform, Digital Life, to telcos outside the United States. It’s clear that some big providers see IoT as a big opportunity.

Another company that is setting its sights on the IoT market, and with cable providers in particular, is Zonoff, a startup that has developed a white-label, protocol-agnostic platform called Z1.

Kevin Garton, Zonoff’s chief marketing officer, said one aim of the Malvern, Pa.-based company is to help partners get a grip on the interoperability challenge that has arisen as the market is flooded with an array of smart devices.

At its heart, Zonoff is a software company, and Z1 is designed to provide partners with a platform that supports data and analytics, as well as a set of hardware services, including a certification program, for hubs and routers. Zonoff has also created a series of subscription services that can enable service providers to generate more revenue from their smarthome offerings, such as cloud video storage and a “home adviser” service that can dispatch workers to the customer if the system is alerted about an issue.

As a white-label offering, that means the provider gets to call the shots on how the service is branded and marketed.

Working with service providers is relatively new for Zonoff, which cut its teeth on do-it-yourself products and counts Icontrol, MiOS and Greenwave Systems among competitors in the turnkey group. On the retail front, for example, Zonoff’s technology underpins the Staples Connect home and home-office product line.

Garton said Zonoff has already secured several service provider deals, though it’s not at liberty to name them as most of its partners don’t want to confuse Z1 with their own branded service. That group includes a large French company in the “structured wiring industry,” as well as providers in the United States and Canada, he said.

Zonoff has also integrated with several smart home product makers, including Aeotec, Centralite, Danalock, Ecolink, D-Link, Kwikset, Jawbone, LG, Netgear, Lutron and Nest, among others.

Z1 centers on “true interoperability,” Garton said, noting that the system works with all radio-based technologies, including proprietary ones from partners such as Lutron, which specializes in connected home lighting.

Z1 is also keeping close tabs on developments surrounding WiFi HaLow, an emerging low-power, long-range version of WiFi tailored for IoT, as well as Bluetooth Smart, another new energy-efficient system.

Comcast’s flurry of technology and service announcements this week at INTX also included what’s on the horizon for Xfinity Home, the MSO’s home security and automation platform.

Xfinity Home is about to get a big facelift in the form of a new software platform that will run a variety next-gen products developed by Comcast alongside integrations with a batch of third-party devices, including Nest, the popular smart thermostat that’s now part of the Google empire.

Amplifying a broader strategy that’s well underway in which Comcast is developing and designing its own consumer products such as set-top boxes, gateways and remote controls, the MSO showed off a suite of internally developed Xfinity Home products, including smart thermostats, indoor/outdoor cameras with night vision, sensors, and a revamped touchscreen controller (see picture above). Some of those products will feature the same low-power E Ink Corp. technology used in Amazon’s latest line of Kindle e-readers.

Comcast has not announced when it will launch the new products, but they will be made to support a range of wireless connectivity protocols, including WiFi, Zigbee and Bluetooth, according to an exec who was demoing the products.

Comcast also announced that it will open up Xfinity Home to a broad set of device partners, noting that the MSO later this year will release a software development kit (SDK) and a “Works with Xfinity Home” certification program.

This week, the company announced several partners, including August, a maker of smart locks and car adapters (Comcast Ventures is an investor); Cuff (smart jewelry); Leeo (maker of a connected nighlight); Lutron (dimmers, remote controls and battery-powered shade); Rachio (sprinkler controllers); Automatic Labs (car adapters); SkyBell (video doorbells); and Whistle (pet monitors).

Comcast is  separately developing an integration with Nest Labs through the Works with Nest program.

“We want to help people unlock the potential of their smart home,” Dan Herscovici, SVP and GM of Xfinity Home, said, in a statement. “Whether it’s through the television, an app or a voice command, we’re giving customers one easy-to-use experience to control all their favorite devices, seamlessly on the same platform.”

A Comcast official said the MSO’s relationship with Icontrol, its original Xfinity Home technology partner, is unchanged.

However, the coming SDK, an exec at the Comcast booth explained, will established a broader, “super set” platform that will encompass Icontrol, Comcast’s new internally-developed products, and its grander third-party integration initiative.

Comcast’s Xfinity Home is evolving as the platform starts to scale up. Speaking on the company’s first quarter conference call on Monday (May 4), Comcast Cable president and CEO Neil Smit said Xfinity Home has more than 500,000 customers.

“That business is really starting to catch on,” Smit said.

Icontrol, the home security and automation vendor that works with ADT and several major U.S. MSOs, is branching into the independent dealer market with the debut of a platform called Icontrol One.

Icontrol, which also sells products at retail following its acquisition last year of Blacksumac, is rolling the newly tailored platform as it looks to strike up partnerships with a market segment that is about 14,000 dealers strong, said Greg Roberts, Icontrol's VP of marketing, noting that about 55% of the home security market is represented by that group.

He said there’s strong demand from dealers that already offer home security services, but are looking for interactive platforms that they can sell and use to retrofit their existing platforms.

Dealers, he said, will be tasked with upgrading about 4 million to 5 million customers that rely on systems outfitted with 2G cellular technology that will be phased out over the next couple of years. To help dealers brace for that, Icontrol is offering a radio upgrade module (pictured above) that outfits older security panels with a 3G communicator, while also adding Z-wave and WiFi.

“That module will be able to be replace 2G models in all leading home security panels that are in residential today. That’s a significant advantage for a dealer,” Roberts said.

Aside from the upgrade, Icontrol will also offer dealers several product packages and a software-as-a-service model that runs on its platform, which uses a customized version of the Android OS.

Icontrol is demonstrating the new dealer-facing platform at the ISC West conference in Las Vegas in mid-April, followed by an expected commercial launch this summer.

On the cable front, customers include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, and Comporium, which licenses the platform to tier 2/3 operators. 

Alarm.com revealed Thursday that its cloud services platform is powering a home automation and security service that Suddenlink Communications rolled out last fall.

Suddenlink’s service, which starts at about $30 per month for bundled customers, features a touchscreen panel, security, and elements that enable customers to remotely control and operate thermostats, locks and lighting using apps for  iOS and Android mobile devices.

"Quality and dependability are critical to living up to the superior service we promise our customers," said Suddenlink SVP and chief marketing and sales officer Jerry Dow, in a statement.” Alarm.com's expertise helps us deliver on that promise." 

The win is notable in that Alarm.com competitor iControl has won the bulk of the home security/automation deals with large MVPDs, including Rogers Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable an. Alarm.com and iControl once duked it out in the courts over patent claims, but settled more than a year ago.

EchoStar, meanwhile, will be entering the fold in the second quarter with the retail launch of a smart home platform called Sage. EchoStar has said it's also interested in pursuing MVPD partners.

While MVPDs have been reluctant to break out home security and automation subscriber numbers, the category, also being targeted by telcos such as DirecTV, AT&T and Verizon Communications, is considered a revenue growth engine. 

Las  Vegas -- International CES -- EchoStar formally launched SAGE here this week, showing off a platform that is anchored by a TV-connected set-top-like device, called the SAGE Hub, apps for Android and iOS devices, and a mix of wirelessly-connected components elements that will let consumers monitor and use their lighting, cameras, locks, cameras and thermostats remotely.

One way EchoStar will try to differentiate is through the SAGE Hub, a Linux-powered device that lets users manage the system via the TV while still watching their shows through a scaled down video window. The device accomplishes this by securely passing through the pay-TV signal through an HDMI cable that links the SAGE Hub to the set-top box. Comcast recently integrated its Xfinity Home product with the TV, though that application is currently limited to customers who are on the MSO’s X1 platform.

Among other features, the SAGE mobile app will support  a feature called “My Local 911” that's designed to ensure that security alerts are patched through to law enforcement authorities that are tied to the customer’s home address rather than basing it on the physical location of the user’s mobile device.  

EchoStar officials said the company is still determining SAGE’s retail pricing and which components will be included in the starter pack. SAGE is designed to be easy enough for self-installs, but will offer a professional installation option.

David Lett, EchoStar’s VP of engineering, said SAGE will offer two primary tiering options – those that includes the equipment alongside a monthly fee, and a “self-monitored” option whereby customers purchase the equipment but won’t pay a recurring monthly fee.

The plan is “to challenge the marketplace with a very affordable price,” Lett said.

Retail will be SAGE’s primary focus, where it will match up with services such as PEQ, a service from SmartHome Ventures that is powered by Icontrol’s platform, which relies on a customized version of Android. EchoStar is also open to partnering with cable operators and other types of MVPDs, but has not announced any deals. Of course, the most obvious candidate for a such a partnership play is EchoStar corporate cousin Dish Network.

If EchoStar pursues the MVPD path, it will lock horns with Icontrol, which is already working with Comcast, Bright House Networks, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications, among others. Verizon Communications and AT&T have also launched their own home security/monitoring platforms.

Icontrol Networks, the home automation and security platform company that’s working with several major MSOs, said it has integrated its OpenHome platform with the Nest Learning Thermostat, the smart home product that is now part of the Google empire.

Icontrol said the tie-up with Nest is currently offered through the Icontrol-powered PEQ home automation system, a retail product that was launched earlier this year by SmartHome Ventures, a startup led by former Charter Communications exec Ted Schremp.

Icontrol said PEQ customers will be able to access and control their Nest Learning Thermostat via the same interface that can monitor and control door locks, lighting controls and video cameras that run on OpenHome, which uses a customized version of the Android operating system. Google, the company behind Android, bought Nest early this year in a $3.2 billion cash deal.

Icontrol, which claims to be currently managing more than 26 million sensors and devices, said it couldn’t comment on any plans in the works to extend its Nest integration to the Icontrol platform that has been rolled out by several cable operators, including Comcast, Bright House Networks, Tim Warner Cable and Cox Communications, among others.

But Icontrol said in a statement that it “recognizes that interoperability is key to successful mass market adoption of the smart home.”

SmartHome Ventures, a company founded in 2013 being led by former Charter Communications exec Ted Schremp, has launched “PĒQ” (pronounced “peek”), a retail-focused home automation service that will compete with a wide range of products that have been introduced by several major telecom service providers.

PĒQ’s operating system is powered by Icontrol Networks, the same company that powers the home security and automation platforms of MSOs such as Comcast, Bright House Networks, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications, among others, as well as for partners such as ADT.

But PĒQ’s approach to the smart home market, which is also being targeted by Google and Apple as well as Samsung (following its recent acquistion of  SmartThings), appears to be focused on a low-cost, interoperable system that, it claims, is easy for consumers to install on their own.

Its $119.99 starter kit includes the centralized hub for connectivity, plus one door and window sensor, and a no-contract service that sells for $9.99 per month. PĒQ’s product portfolio also includes a camera ($129.99), a “smart” thermostat “($129.99), and a variety of motion, water and carbon monoxide detectors. Customers can control PĒQ’s platform via apps that run on smartphones, tablets or PCs. The company claims that a typical customer can set up the system in less than 30 minutes.

"With widespread adoption of broadband internet, smartphones and tablets, consumers are ready to embrace the concept of a smart home," said Schremp, in a statement. "However, consumers are still hesitant because of the lack of a simple, affordable, and consistently reliable platform. With PĒQ, we're making home automation easy, reliable and accessible through a consumer friendly design, a rigorous lab certification process for devices, ongoing firmware and app updates, and dedicated customer support."

PĒQ is currently pitching its wares online, and expects to offer products through a network of online and in-store distribution partners. Of note, its products will be offered at “select” Best Buy stores and at BestBuy.com starting August 31.

Kansas City, Mo.-based SmartHome Ventures was founded in early 2013. Schremp, who left Charter for personal reasons in February 2011, most recently was CEO of FirstMedia, the largest cable operator in Indonesia.

Schremp’s not the only SmartHome Ventures exec with a cable background. Christopher Caffrey, its vice president of sales, previously served as VP of business development at Comcast.

Bright House Networks has joined a growing number of cable operators that have tapped iControl Networks to power a new set of home security and automation services.

iControl said the MSO is using its “Converge” software platform to operate the Bright House’s Home Security & Control product, which, according to an official, has been rolled out in Tampa and Central Florida. 

Bright House has tapped in to offer a mix of centrally monitored and self-managed security and smart home features, including energy, light and home appliance management via an in-home touchscreen (pictured above), on Web browsers and on smartphones and tablets.

“We’re excited to partner with Bright House Networks to bring advanced home control, security and connectivity to their customer base,” said Jim Johnson, executive vice president and general manager at iControl, in a statement. “Bright House Networks customers will quickly appreciate how simple it is to manage their homes and gain the reassurance that comes with a home management service like this."

Bright House joins an expanding list of MSOs that now work with iControl. Others include Comcast, Cox Communications, Rogers Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Comporium, among others.

Last month, iControl acquired Blacksumac, a Canada-based startup that has developed an all-in-one wireless-based home automation and security system that carriers the “Piper” brand. iControl said the “strategic acquisition” will allow it to expand its connected home management portfolio and target new markets, including rental properties and apartments, in the U.S. and abroad.

iControl, a home security and automation company with several MSOs on its customer list, has acquired Blacksumac, a Canada-based startup that has developed an all-in-one wireless-based platform that carries the “Piper" brand.

iControl said the “strategic acquisition” will allow it to expand its connected home management portfolio and target new markets, including rental properties and apartments, in the U.S. and abroad.

Piper, Blacksumac’s flagship product, is a self-managed and self-monitored device tailored to do-it-yourselfers that integrates a panoramic HD video camera (with the ability to pan, tilt and zoom) and home automation and environmental sensors.  Its current lineup of devices touts Z-Wave, a low-latency, low power  wireless protocol specialized for home security and home automation products.

iControl said it will integrate its platform with Piper, which sells at retail for $239 and can be packaged with a variety of  accessories, including motion, door and window sensors, and smart switches that can turn off lights and other appliances remotely. Blacksumac has developed apps that run on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Founded in 2012, Blacksumac  raised $300,000 via crowdfunding last fall, according to TechCrunch. The Blacksumac team will remain based in Ottawa, according to iControl, which counts Comcast, Cox Communications, ADT, Rogers Communications and Time Warner Cable among its partners.

“Piper’s unique product offering appeals to a large and mostly underserved consumer market segment,” said Bob Hagerty, CEO of iControl, in a statement.  “We remain focused on advancing our connected home management platforms for service providers and growing our connected life ecosystem via the iControl Partner Program.”

This video expands on the product that is the centerpiece of iControl’s new acquisition: