May 12, 2009

HomePlug Powerline Alliance Announces New Members

The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance announced the addition of Gigle Semiconductor, Intellon Corporation, NEC Electronics Corporation and SPiDCOM Technologies to the organization’s Board of Directors. Additionally, all four companies have signed on as Sponsor Members to the Alliance, the highest level of membership available. With more than 70 member companies, an installed base with over 27 million units shipped, the industry’s only comprehensive certification program, and the recent adoption of HomePlug AV as baseline technology for multiple international standards, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance has established itself as the clear global leader for powerline networking.

Through its Smart Energy Initiative, HomePlug is focusing on adopting communications and networking technologies to help consumers monitor and reduce their energy consumption. The HomePlug alliance is actively collaborating with utility companies and the ZigBee® Alliance to help build the Home Area Network (HAN) ecosystem that enables intelligent energy management and efficiency in the home and small businesses.

“Gigle, Intellon, SPiDCOM and NEC truly understand the importance of HomePlug's standards-based approach to unifying the powerline communication industry,” said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. “Having these companies on our Board strengthens our drive to take the industry to the next level of adoption and broad consumer acceptance.”

“Powerline technology is essential to the successful rollout of HD IPTV solutions to our customers,” said Fabrice Amand, livebox inlife marketing manager for France Telecom-Orange, a member and key contributor to the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, ITU G.hn and IEEE P1901. "We welcome the new Board members and the recent announcements of multiple silicon sources for HomePlug, a key element for operators.”

“Reliable and cost-effective communication technologies are key for designers looking to develop smart-energy products, and standardization will be key to achieving mainstream adoption,” said Kazu Yamada, vice president, custom SOC solutions strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America, Inc. “By joining the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, NEC Electronics reaffirms its commitment to provide standardized and cost-effective connectivity solutions for applications in energy management such as smart metering, home area networks and building automation.”

“Gigle wholly supports the global adoption of standards and the work the HomePlug Powerline Alliance has put forth to unify the industry to create even faster market growth and provide strong benefits to consumers,” said Mike Wilson, vice president of corporate business development for Gigle Semiconductor. "As a member of HomePlug’s Board of Directors, we are looking forward to taking on an expanded role within the Alliance and participating in the creation of HomePlug’s next generation 1Gbps powerline standard.”

“Intellon, a founding member of the Alliance, is a leader in providing powerline ICs for HomePlug 1.0 and AV-based products deployed into the IPTV/service provider, retail, consumer electronics and emerging Smart Grid markets,” said Christopher Henningsen, vice president of marketing for Intellon Corporation. “We fully support interoperable HomePlug products for these segments as well as future standards that are interoperable with the large installed base on HomePlug devices.”

“Joining the Board, SPiDCOM strengthens its long time technology contributions to HomePlug standards,” said Frederic Onado, Chief Operating Officer of the Europe headquartered SPiDCOM Technologies and Vice President EMEA of the HomePlug Alliance. “We are glad our newly released HomePlug AV chip belongs to the only multi-silicon vendor powerline ecosystem in existence.”


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