The "connected home" home is a major part of the future, according to one exhibitor at IBC. In fact, the communications industry believes it so strongly that it’s is ready to roll out whatever technology is required to provide services to consumers who may or may not believe it at all. The problem remains the cost.

The hardware and software to deliver the services are within reach, but the cost of the user equipment remains the biggest sticking point in the upgrading of many entertainment networks. Many content delivery networks already have spent large amounts of money to deploy their current generations of set-top boxes, and rolling out a new generation to work within the connected home vision could be prohibitively expensive at this point.

It also does not help that the changing world of media delivery has led to a generation of consumers who don’t really feel that paying for access to content is part of the deal.

The connected home is available, in terms of technology, but it’s likely that until the business models are perfected, it will be a while before we see widespread rollout.