Wireless Infrastructure for Video Surveillance Hit $175 Million in 2009

WELLINGBOROUGH, ENGLAND: The market for wireless infrastructure used in video surveillance during 2009 is estimated to have reached $175 million in the Americas and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), according to IMS Research, which conducts market research and provides consulting services on a range of global electronic markets, including on video surveillance.

In addition, during 2010 the markets for wireless infrastructure used for video surveillance is expected to grow by 20 percent in those regions, IMS Research says in a written statement on their report on that arena.

“The main advantage of wireless infrastructure over a wired network is fairly clear,” Niall Jenkins, IMS Research senior analysts, said in the written statement. “Trenching and cabling over long distances can be expensive and wireless networks provide a cost-effective alternative,” he said. That is a “main reason why the technology has done so well in the city surveillance market where cameras are required across a large area in locations which already have power but no network connection,” he added. In that situation, “wireless infrastructure is an ideal solution.”

However, the penetration of wireless infrastructure into other vertical markets in the video surveillance industry has been “less successful,” Jenkins said. “The commercial and transportation markets have seen some uptake in the use of wireless infrastructure,” he said, but in vertical markets such as banking and finance, the use of wireless infrastructure is “extremely niche.” A leading reason for diminished use of wireless infrastructure used in video surveillance by the financial industry is there is “a perception that the security system can be breached through the wireless network.”

In addition, data collected from security system integrators and installers of wireless infrastructure indicate “that wireless solutions are rarely the first option (of a client),” Jenkins said. Nonetheless, most integrators see the potential for wireless infrastructure in the commercial, transportation and education markets, he added. – from Government Video