2019.04.19 – Open Broadband News

UFBB BASe just got juicier – Leaders from Orange and ASSIA added to a world-class lineup at BBF’s June event – Register Now!

Orange and ASSIA have joined a phenomenal line-up of presenters at the upcoming 2019 Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe), on 25-27 June in Den Haag, The Netherlands. Click here for the latest agenda which now includes presenters from many of Europe’s leading operators, including A1 Telekom, DT, Orange, Proximus, and Swisscom with more to be announced soon, as well as renowned analyst firms Cartesian and TNO. In-depth technology and vision session will also be led by experts from our sponsors – Calix, Go!Foton, Actelis, AVM, Domos, Nokia, ASSIA, InCoax, and MoCA Access.

Building on the success of the former TNO-led Ultra-Fast Broadband Seminar and Broadband Forum’s highly regarded BASe series, UFBB BASe is set to be a world-class event that will examine many of the hottest topics and challenges in broadband today – from how to leverage the latest advancements in carrier grade Wi-Fi, the Connected Home, and cloud-based services to build a technologically advantaged network, to lessons in creating and operational model that can successfully leverage this advantage to deliver valued services with agility. Latest additions Christian Gacon, VP of Wirelines Networks Infrastructure at Orange Fixed Access Strategy, and John Cioffi, CEO at ASSIA (now a Bronze level sponsor) will bring valuable perspectives to this event. Don’t miss this amazing educational and networking opportunity – Register now. 

Ireland’s National Broadband Plan remains stuck in connectivity slow lane

The Irish government has postponed a key decision on the country’s national broadband plan, further delaying deployment of a program originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2020. It has not yet begun.

Like many countries, Ireland’s major cities are well-served by competitive operators that use a mix of fiber-based fixed broadband, LTE, Gfast and fiber for MDUs. Rural regions, however, have a different connectivity reality. In many cases, the cost versus return of sparsely populated areas and rugged cable-unfriendly terrains of the Irish countryside are prohibitive for many of the nation’s leading fiber service providers.

As a result, about 540,000 homes and premises remain disconnected from high-speed Internet, the Irish Examiner reported.

Getting 10 giggy with it – Telecom Fiji improves customer experience in South Pacific

Telecom Fiji will deploy the first all-optical 10G PON fiber network in the South Pacific, in partnership with Huawei.

The operator plans to use the network to deliver gigabit network services for both households and enterprise customers.

Huawei has been contracted for the deployment, which is aimed at enhancing the operator’s customer experience while significantly reducing network operation and maintenance costs.

“By adopting this 10G PON solution, the competitiveness of our fixed broadband in Fiji has now significantly enhanced… We are fully confident to maintain our technological leadership in the South Pacific island markets,” Telecom Fiji General Manager of Sales and Marketing Joseph Naua said.

Unsung hero – not-for-profit internet provider dons cape to rescue unconnected communities

Meet the social entrepreneurs who have made it their mission to tackle poor rural broadband provision. Through crowdfunding, the organization hopes to raise £3m to bring ultra-fast, reliable internet to even more people in rural areas – and all profits stay in the communities too.

According to a 2017 report by Ofcom, two-thirds of rural communities in Britain lack access to good broadband, which makes isolated communities feel even more alienated. The problem is that most profit-conscious internet providers can’t make an economic case for connecting remote villages, where it can reportedly cost up to £15,000 to bring fiber-optic broadband to a single household. (Much of this cost comes from paying wayleaves to landowners to dig up parts of their property).

Using his experience as a network engineer, Barry Forde, CEO of Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN), a not-for-profit internet provider that brings ultra-fast broadband to isolated communities came up with a novel solution: to get rural communities to provide their own broadband. The thinking went something like this: if you can set up an internet provider that is community-owned and not-for-profit, then you can bypass many of the financial hurdles that the big providers face.

“Being community-owned, we are able to pull the community together and get permission to go across people’s land without paying them a wayleave,” explains Forde. “Landowners won’t give anything away to the big telcos, because they’re profit-driven, but when something is not-for-profit and benefiting the community, they give a lot.”

Succumbing to the gentler nature of technology purists – a report from Broadband Forum USP Plugfest #3

Broadband Forum hosted its third User Services Platform (USP) Plugfest earlier this month, with Axiros among a number of participants. In this blog, the company’s CEO Michael Shaw shares how having gathered with fellow members of the Broadband Forum to test the latest versions of the USP / TR-369 embedded Agents and Controllers, developers from AVM GmbH, Arris, Axiros, Nokia, QA Café and many others work through the day in a highly collaborative environment, setting aside the competitive drive which motivates their “day job” activities and succumb to the gentler nature of technology purists.

At the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) – a modern, well-staffed 27,00 square foot facility educating engineering leaders from many disciplines – a Switzerland of Science has been created.

The UNH-IOL is 100% industry funded through participating members, and participants of events like the Broadband Forum Plugfest.  The result is a unique environment where UNH-IOL staff and students, representatives of the Broadband Forum and industry technology innovators work through the day in a highly collaborative environment where the pursuit excellent is the goal, and the outcome is nothing short of an evolution of an important telecommunications and Internet of Things standard.

The 2019 calendar for Broadband Forum continues to grow!

The April 30 registration deadline for the Broadband Forum Gfast Chipset & System Integrator Interoperability Plugfest is fast approaching. You can register to attend the event here. The Plugfest takes place from Monday, May 13 to Friday, May 17.

Broadband Forum is also inviting any follow up questions from the “Deliver on the promise of the Connected Home: An expert panel webinar on USP/TR-369” webinar. If you missed it or want to review parts of it, request your copy here. You can also track or get involved in the development of USP or other projects within our Broadband User Services work area which are focused on accelerating the journey to the truly Connected Home. Learn more about Broadband Forum’s work in the Connected Home here, and click here for a summary of technical projects underway and the progress made at the Q1 meeting, provided by Lincoln Lavoie, Broadband Forum Technical Committee Chair.