LG Pioneers Tomorrow's Home Today

April 4, 2005

LG Electronics Initiates First LnCP Consortium for Standardization of Home Networks

LG Electronics (LG) is leading the international expansion of groundbreaking "Home Network" technology, connecting all home appliances - wired and wireless. The company is working with the government to achieve this goal, currently developing API (Application Programming Interface) to match the National Standard for Power Line Communication, which uses power lines for communications.

The company initiated a cooperative LnCP (Living Network Control Protocol) Consortium of home network developers on March 17, 2005 and partners such as Daewoo Electronics, SK C&C, Honeywell Korea, etc. will use LG's API technology free of charge in developing networked appliances. LnCP is the world's first management protocol for the Home Network where members aim to standardize networks in the home and empower customers to control appliances from a variety of manufacturers on a single system.

LG is already at the forefront of the creation of a converged Home Network of appliances - the electronics of the future. Now, the consortium will allow products from other manufacturers to interact.
Beom Seog Ko, Managing Director and Head of the LG Electronics Home Network Division said the major role of the LnCP Consortium is ultimately to bring members business advantages beyond simple joint development.

"This will occur through various cooperative efforts, such as product development, authentication, joint exhibition and promotion. LG will support the consortium in allowing free use of LG LnCP when companies develop LnCP products. We thus aim to further the global standardization of LnCP," Mr. Ko said.

This is particularly significant to Korea where the Home Network is no longer a thing of the future.
Fortune recognizes Korea for maintaining the world's highest broadband Internet penetration rate at 75 percent. And with subscription rising, the Korean Ministry of Information and Communications, in cooperation with LG, plans to invest US 55 million dollars in the construction of 1.5 million networked houses this year. This is part of the government's long-term initiative to build 10 million networked houses across the nation, a US 2 billion investment plan until the end of 2007.

This presents a challenge to manufacturers and LG is taking the lead in formulating solutions. LG launched the world's very first commercialized home networking product in 2000 and has since developed diverse web-based digital home appliances and multimedia tools for Internet and networking services as the first step in the creation of a networked or e-Home. The company has completed the development of Internet-accessible air conditioners and microwave ovens and the Internet washing machine downloads pre-programmed washing options for different laundry loads.

David Park, Head of Overseas Marketing & Sales of LG Electronics' Digital Appliances said LG has accomplished the second stage of the home network system - living networks - and is in the final stages of the next phase - the e-Home. "The infrastructure of the global market is developing much faster than expected and these initiatives strengthen LG's worldwide leadership role. The company has received orders for approximately 12,000 home network households in Korea and is also constructing 1,305 premium home network apartments in Shenzhen, China. This Consortium is important in that it will further expand on this development," he said.