2019.05.24 – Open Broadband News

Broadband Forum hits tech home run, covering all BASes of ultrafast broadband

New keynote speakers from KT (Korea Telecom) Corporation and TNO will join the line-up at Broadband Forum’s Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe), taking place  June 25-27, 2019 in Den Haag, Netherlands.

A conference uniquely constructed by technology innovators for technology leaders, UFBB BASe has emerged as THE must-attend event for broadband professionals seeking a conference with the technical depth and real-world insights to bring actionable innovations back to their respective companies.

The early-bird registration for the seminar has been extended to May 31, giving attendees added time to register.

The latest additions to the agenda are KT who will speak on “Delivering Ultra-fast Broadband with GiGAWire Enabled G.hn Over Copper ” and Dr. Bart Kamphorst, Junior Scientist Innovator at TNO, who will present on “PON Traffic Analysis – Insights from the Real World”.

They will join Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray LeMaistre and access network legend and ASSIA CEO John Cioffi. The former will host a fireside chat on ‘What Happens to Traditional Telecom in a 5G World?’, while the latter will delve into ‘Ergodic Spectrum Management (ESM)‘ in delivering an optimized Wi-Fi experience.

“The latest speaker, topic, and sponsor additions will further broaden the scope of what promises to be an incredibly insightful Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar, providing extra opportunities to learn how companies and organizations are preparing for the future of broadband,” said Bernd Hesse, BASe Chair at Broadband Forum. “Attendees will hear from executives about various topics and challenges within today’s broadband landscape and how innovators are utilizing next-generation technologies to shape the future of broadband and develop advanced networks.”

Broadband Forum brings Connected Home up to code

Broadband Forum this week released code designed to provide vendors and operators with a future-proof, interoperable base they can use to create and accelerate connected-home deployments.

User Services Platform (USP), Open Broadband – USP Agent (OB-USP-Agent) is a standards-based solution that service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers and end-users can leverage to manage connected devices, upgrade equipment and add new equipment, according to the Forum. It is the latest evolution of USP, which uses the same data models of Broadband Forum’s TR-069 standard to create a network of controllers and agents that allow applications to manage service elements. TR-069 has been the basis for more than 1 billion broadband installations globally.

“We’re doing a lot of work with user services platform – USP – which I think will start to gain a lot of momentum in 2019,” said Geoff Burke, Broadband Forum Chief Marketing Officer, in an interview with Broadband World News earlier this month. “This is the successor to TR69 that will enable [providers and vendors] to take that connectivity in the home into the next generation – the IoT generation – in which you’re starting to work with a multitude of devices and some new challenges and introducing things like Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi mesh into the mix.”

Hang up the shoe phone! ADTRAN gets smart-er with new extension to broadband gateways 

ADTRAN, Inc., the leading provider of next-generation open networking and subscriber experience solutions, today announced an extension of its SmartOS-enabled portfolio of broadband access solutions with the SmartRG 652ac (SR652ac) residential and small business gateway.

Operators can now expedite the delivery of ultra-fast internet services – leveraging recent investments in building multi-Gigabit access networks so that customers can have the richest broadband experience independent of location, device or infrastructure.

The new carrier-grade, SmartOS-enabled residential and small business gateway provides the ability to deliver highly competitive broadband – up to 700Mbps – without service or customer disruptions via bonded super-vectoring (VDSL2 profile 35b) technology. This highly scalable fiber broadband extension technology is ideal for the rapidly growing MDU/MTU markets. Using the existing in-building wiring to each unit helps network providers accelerate service deployment and save construction costs associated with delivering new broadband services. Furthermore, service providers can run super-vectoring in parallel to other xDSL technologies in their access network, adding additional operational savings.

“The design philosophy with SmartOS is to give service providers a single, open source-based, secure software framework so that providers gain consistency and commonality to reduce testing or qualification cycles and increase speed to market for new and innovative services,” said ADTRAN’s Senior Vice President of Subscriber Solutions & Experience Jeff McInnis. “We can significantly reduce the cost and resources required to introduce new solutions into a network and help our customers bring better services to their subscribers through our feature-rich, SmartOS platform – enhancing the experience for everyone.”

UK government fields rural fiber initiative

A program to roll-out gigabit-enabled full fiber broadband to the most rural and remote parts of the UK has begun, with 31 schools in rural areas among the first to benefit from the £200 million ($252 million) scheme. The scheme is funded through the National Infrastructure Productivity Fund (NPIF).

The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) program is the first step in the Government’s ‘Outside In’ approach to ensure rural areas are not left behind in full-fiber broadband deployments. This approach will help reach 10 percent of UK premises, identified by the government last year as unlikely to receive gigabit-capable connections from commercial networks by 2033, at the same time as commercial rollouts.

“Our decision to tackle some of the hardest to reach places first is a significant shift in Government policy and will be instrumental in delivering our plans for a nationwide full fiber broadband network by 2033,” said Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary of State Jeremy Wright. “Our rollout of superfast broadband transformed the UK’s digital landscape, and our modern Industrial Strategy is focused on investing in the infrastructure that will make Britain fit for the future.”

Everything’s telecom-ing up roses for USA broadband!

The top US ISPs added 945,000 broadband customers in the first quarter of 2019, up from 815,000 net additions in the year-earlier period, according to Leichtman Research. The telecom sector returned to growth in the period, with positive net additions for the first time in three years.

Cable companies still accounted for the bulk of the broadband growth, with 925,000 net additions in the period. Telecom operators gained 20,000 subscribers, compared to a net loss of around 35,000 in Q1 2018.

In total, the market researcher counted 98.7 million broadband subscribers at the end of March, good for nearly 95 percent of the market and an increase of almost 2.6 million in the past year. Cable companies had a 66 percent share of subscribers, up from 63 percent two years ago, while telcos were down to 34 percent.

The strongest growth in the quarter was at Charter Communications, which added 428,000 customers to reach 25.7 million, strengthening its number-two position in the market behind Comcast. Among telcos, AT&T led with a net gain of 36,000 for a total 15.7 million subscribers.

Broadband Forum presents a Series of Fortunate Events

Registration is open for Broadband Forum’s Q2 2019 Meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Taking place from June 17-20, and following the successful Q1 meeting in Warsaw, Poland earlier this year, the event promises to provide a platform to discuss the latest developments in Connected Home, 5G and Open Broadband, and more. Expect an insightful plenary presentation from KT Lab vice president Mr. Jongpil Lee on KT’s access strategies and a demonstration of G.hn technology. Deadline for registration is June 10. To register, please visit here.

Broadband Forum will host the 4th XGS-PON Interoperability Test Event with FSAN (Full Service Access Network), from 8-12 July at the LAN labs in Tauxigny, France. Registration for the event will be open soon.

In addition, at the Amsterdam RAI, 15-17 October, Broadband World Forum, the global communications’ industry’s biggest event is fast approaching and will return after two successful years in Berlin. The event annually welcomes over 4,000 attendees from around the world and is the perfect opportunity to connect with the entire fixed network ecosystem with a large floorspace and three days of curated content.