Salt Lake City-based Vivint has added high-speed Internet to its security, home automation and energy offerings. Following the acquisition of wireless technology provider Smartrove, Vivint is currently testing a new 50 Mbps upstream/downstream wireless broadband service in Utah.
Blackstone Capital acquired Vivint for about $1.86 billion last year, and the company announced just this month that it has secured a $200 million investment to finance solar power systems on residential rooftops. Vivint Solar has experienced rapid growth, becoming the second-largest U.S. residential solar installer in the first quarter of 2013, according to GTM Research’s U.S. PV Leaderboard. The company began offering home energy management in 2011, and 54 percent of its 700,000-plus customers have signed up for the service.
The addition of high-speed Internet puts Vivint—founded in 1999 as a security firm—one step closer to becoming a leading multi-service provider. “We want to be the supplier for everything that has recurring engagement,” says Tim Lott, Vivint’s Director of Energy. The company hopes to position its offerings, including a potential future TV service, “in such a way as to become a household brand, like Apple,” says Lott. “We create experiences that make life easier.”
Vivint’s thousands of well-trained salespeople market its offerings door-to-door, collecting feedback which gives the company a unique competitive edge. The Vivint Wireless division will build its business person-to-person, in the same vein as its security and home automation services.
To showcase its complete line-up of services, Vivint has teamed up with Garbett Homes to build a first-of-its-kind affordable “net-zero climate 5 smart home,” which is green-speak for a self-sufficient, solar-powered home that generates as much power as it consumes. The Zero Home prototype is located in Herriman, Utah.
Read more on Vivint’s latest offerings and the company’s Zero Home collaboration.
