T-Mobile is pushing into the connected home space as exclusive cellular provider for Nest’s home security system.

Starting 10 November, customers will be able to pick up a $240 Nest security pack from T-Mobile at an additional $10 per month. The pack includes a Nest Secure alarm system, a keypad, two key fobs, two motion sensors, an indoor security camera system with intelligent alerts and cellular backup service.

T-Mobile indicated it is the first operator to offer financing for Nest connected home devices. But even if customers pick up the security system elsewhere, T-Mobile noted Nest will still work on its network thanks to a built in Cat-1 LTE module. Both Verizon and AT&T offer Nest devices as part of their product lineups.

Unlike Nest support from other US operators, T-Mobile claims that homes will be protected even if the power is out or Wi-Fi is down thanks to built-in battery backup and T-Mobile cellular backup.

Making moves
T-Mobile’s push into the connected home space comes as the operator ramps up its efforts in the wider Internet of Things market.

In November 2016, T-Mobile launched its first connected car solution, dubbed SyncUp Drive, as a competitor to similar products in the market, like Verizon’s hum offering.

At the inaugural Mobile World Congress Americas event in September, T-Mobile expanded SyncUp to include fleet management capabilities and announced plans to launch a Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) low power network in 2018. At the time, T-Mobile’s SVP of MVNO, IoT and M2M Doug Chartier told Mobile World Live the operator is looking to target low data throughput use cases with its NB-IoT rollout, including applications like utility and parking metres, water metering and monitoring, asset tracking and smart home devices, among other things.

Verizon, which has already launched a low power LTE-M network, has also revealed plans to move ahead with NB-IoT deployments. AT&T and Sprint, however, have chosen to focus on LTE-M for the time being.