Few home buyers opt for faster lines

Modern-day technology is quickly taking over the American home, but existing homes and most new ones are far from ready to handle it.<br>New homes with built-in advanced wiring systems are gradually entering

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Modern-day technology is quickly taking over the American home, but existing homes and most new ones are far from ready to handle it.
New homes with built-in advanced wiring systems are gradually entering the consumer market, but many homes being built still lack the high-speed, broadband access that is quickly becoming a standard in the Information Age.

"We're always trying to keep ahead of the technology curve," says Michael Marlowe, president of Michael Marlowe Custom Homes Inc. in Dallas. But many consumers looking to build a home, he says, are often unsure what they need or how much the installation will cost.

While more homes in the price range of $500,000 and up, such as those Mr. Marlowe's company builds, are constructed with advanced wiring as a standard feature, consumers looking for less expensive houses often mistakenly assume that the cost of optional installation will be prohibitive.

Prices falling

"A few years ago, builders said that when consumer demand for advanced wiring reached 25 percent [of consumers], they would be willing to install it, even if that cost was as high as $5,000," says Tricia Parks of Parks Associates, a Dallas research firm. Home Automation Association, an organization of wiring and equipment manufacturers, has hired the Parks firm to gauge consumer interest in the "connected home."

Her company found that 37 percent of people who planned to buy a house in the next 18 months would be willing to pay for advanced wiring. Even the price of such wiring has dropped dramatically, ranging from $750 to $2,000, depending on the square footage of the house.

Five years ago, the cost of such wiring ranged from $10,000 to $15,000 per house, says Steve McAbee, a spokesman for Lucent Technologies in Atlanta.

"Demand is making it cheaper," he says. "There hasn't been anything done on the manufacturing end to make it cheaper.

Increased competition and meeting consumer needs by packaging such whole-house wiring projects has done it."

50-year-old standard

Part of the perception problem stems from the fact that the wiring infrastructure has not changed in 50 years. Category 1, or telephone, wire has been the standard for communications, but it is not suited for high-tech uses. Think of wiring as a pipeline for information. Category 1 has the capacity of a squirt gun. By comparison, structured wiring, using what is known as Category 5 wiring, has the capacity of a fire hose.

For example, Category 1 wiring will not permit two computer users to have simultaneous high-speed access to the Internet. But that's just one of the things that Category 5 wiring can do. Recommended wiring for today's tech-ready residences include two Category 5 twisted-pair wire cables, two RG-6 quad shielded video (coaxial) cables and dual Category 5/coaxial outlets in key rooms, such as the study, den, master bedroom, family room and kitchen, where cable television and Internet access are needed. This wiring provides for basic and advanced services, including multimedia and interactive services, says Bill Lane, chairman of the Wiring America's Homes campaign of the Home Automation Association.

"The grade of wiring supports both current and developing technologies, including multiple communication technology in the home office -- multiple computers, fax machine and phone lines, and extensive home-theater capabilities," says Mr. Lane, chief operating officer of Smart House Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.

"What we're saying is, here's what we think gives you optimum flexibility but minimum solutions," he says. "This wiring doesn't distribute voice data or video in every room, but provides access to it in multiple areas."
The fact that such wiring supports developing technologies is what will enable high-tech homes now being built to stay on the cutting edge of high-speed data transmission technology for years to come. The problem, however, is at the lower end of the new-house market, not in the upper or luxury end.

"Advanced wiring is becoming somewhat standard based on the price range of the house being built," says Bob Morris, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas. "But in houses in the $80,000 to $100,000 range, the cost of Category 5 wiring can push the marginal buyer out of the market."

Given the choice between the wiring and the house, most first-time buyers will do without the wiring.

Despite this drawback, aggravated by a recent spike in interest rates, Mike McKinney, president of Dallas custom builder Coleman Homes, says, "A lot of new home buyers are aware of this emerging technology, and advanced wiring is becoming an amenity in homes that people are recognizing there is a need for.

"You can compare the situation with Category 5 wiring to the home security market 10 years ago. Back then, the technology was just emerging as an option for new homes, but today everybody has it."

Mr. McKinney says advanced wiring is becoming increasingly important to new home buyers, and he says that there is a range of advanced wiring options available to those looking to build a house.

On the low end, buyers can choose to have their house wired only for telephone lines, cable television and Internet access, which costs about $700.

From there, upgrades include networks that link home entertainment equipment and computers so that VCRs can be programmed from the office. Linking multiple computers also allows users to share printers, play online games and rig security cameras to be accessible from any computer monitor at home or office.

The cost of these options can range up to about $2,000, and these "smart houses" are generally priced at $250,000 and up.

Mr. Marlowe plans to introduce in his homes soon a system called Panja that combines the most sophisticated home wiring with what he calls "the world's greatest remote control."

Via a wireless, full-color hand-held control, users will able to control their thermostats, home entertainment systems and security systems. Furthermore, users will have Internet access funneled directly to their televisions, and the Panja controller will allow them to switch seamlessly from television programming to Web access.

"The whole neighborhood will be networked," says Mr. Marlowe, "so if you lose your dog, you just type out an e-mail on the remote and the message goes out to all your neighbors."

Without this sort of advanced wiring, "a new home can be obsolete the day it is built," says Ms. Parks, the Dallas researcher. "There are already 5 million houses built in the last five years that aren't ready for this new technology and can't compete with houses that will be built in the next five years."

The disadvantage for existing houses is that the expense of dragging Category 5 wiring and coaxial cable through the walls is expensive, unless the house is undergoing extensive remodeling.

"Nobody wants to remodel every house built in the last 150 years," says Mr. Marlowe. But there is a very good chance that the playing field will be leveled soon as wireless technology is developed further, eliminating the need for any rewiring at all.

"Two years from now, everything will be wireless," says Mr. Marlowe, and consumers will buy advanced wireless access for their homes in much the same way they would go to electronics stores to buy a television satellite dish.

Right now, Mr. Lane of Smart House says, these wiring systems "should be considered enablers. It needs to be thought of as a bare-bones necessity for a house, especially for the home office and entertainment."

"We are living in an information society," says Mr. McKinney, "and high-speed information access from the home is becoming more and more of a necessity.

"Consumers are demanding it."

Alan J. Heavens is a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Victor Godinez is a special contributor to The Dallas Morning News.