AT&T expands its international presence with the launch of O2 Home in the U.K.

AT&T continued to expand its international presence with the launch of O2 Home, a smart home offering using the U.S. carrier’s Digital Life platform.

O2, which is owned by Spain’s Telefónica and is the second-largest operator in the U.K., launched a three-tiered offering enabling users to connect devices and services in their homes. The service is available in metropolitan London and will be rolled out to the rest of the country “in the near future,” the carrier said.

O2 is the first operator in the U.K. to bring a smart home offering to market.

Telefónica last year became the first company to license AT&T’s Digital Life platform after carrying out a limited trial in Europe. O2 announced plans in January to sell connected residential products and services based on Digital Life.

“Keeping your home up to date with technology shouldn’t be complicated – so we’ve brought together connectivity and smart technology in a simple package to give customers peace of mind wherever they are,” said Nina Bibby, O2’s marketing and consumer director, in a press release. “We’ve made everything simple – with installation experts to help set things up and an app to monitor and control your home 24 hours a day. It’s smart technology for everyone, not just the tech-savvy.”

Interestingly, while O2’s previous announcement suggested it would sell connected home offerings under AT&T’s brand, the U.S. carrier wasn’t mentioned in today’s press release.

Regardless, the move marks yet another international expansion for AT&T, which continues to look to foreign markets as growth in its core U.S. smartphone business has slowed. Last year the No. 2 carrier in the U.S. launched a virtualized packet core in Europe in a move to boost its international IoT business, and it continues to build out its network in Mexico.

Like its rival Verizon, AT&T is looking to build a digital media empire to complement its traditional cellular business. The carrier will launch a cross-platform video offering under the DirecTV brand later this year, and it continues to quietly develop its mobile advertising business. Expanding its global footprint could eventually help AT&T build on those efforts.

For more:
- see this O2 press release

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