Ikanos and SoftAtHome execs joint Home Gateway Initiative board

Wojtek Makowski

Connected home industry standards body the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) has named Pramod Kaluskar, systems architect at Ikanos, and Wojtek Makowski, CTO of SoftAtHome, to its board of directors.

According to HGI, the pair will be able to bring the perspective of manufacturers of critical aspects for the connected home, particularly with a focus on interconnecting, interworking and providing value-added services.

HGI publishes requirements for the digital home, including home gateways, media gateways, end-to-end services, including software infrastructure and applications, and home networking devices that connect consumers to services.

Both Ikanos and SoftAtHome have been contributing to HGI requirements and manufacturing products for a number of years. Ikanos develops semiconductor and software products for the broadband access and connected home markets, while SoftAtHome has enabled connectivity, pay TV and digital home services via its SoftAtHome operating platform.

Ikanos and SoftAtHome join existing HGI board members from BT, Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom, DSP Group, NEC, NTT and Advanced Digital Broadcast.

“These two companies are leaders in their fields and we are delighted to welcome them to the HGI board,” said Luca Giacomello, Chairman of the Board of HGI.  “Both companies work in line with HGI requirements and test programmes, and have an innovative approach to developing technologies for the broadband home. I am confident their involvement will strengthen HGI’s activities. Both also bring a wealth of industry connections and influence which will greatly assist our collaborative outreach to allied industry bodies.”