2019.05.31 – Open Broadband News

All About That BASe – Broadband Forum continues to grow Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe)    

More industry luminaries have joined the line-up for Broadband Forum’s Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe), taking place  June 25-27, 2019 in Den Haag, Netherlands.

The latest additions to the agenda are Mr.Jongpil Lee, Vice President at KT Labs, who will speak on “One Giant Leap for G.hn – Unearthing Buried Copper Values” , Dr. Bart Kamphorst, Researcher at TNO, who will present on “PON Traffic Analysis – Insights from the Real World”, and Ovum Consumer Services Senior Practice Leader Michael Philpott who will present their latest research on “Key Trends in the Smart Home”. GiGA Wire has also joined as a Platinum Global sponsor and will demonstrate its G.hn technology at the event. These luminaries join a world-class line-up of carriers, vendors, and analysts already committed. To see the latest agenda, click here.

UFBB BASe is a conference uniquely constructed by technology innovators for technology leaders and 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 June 10 – register today!

Oh no, no, no, I’m a rocket man! SpaceX launches orbiting broadband system

The SpaceX company has begun the roll-out of its orbiting broadband system. A Falcon-9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, packed with 60 satellites capable of giving users on the ground high-speed connections to the internet.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s firm aims to eventually loft nearly 12,000 spacecraft for its “Starlink” network. SpaceX is one of several commercial outfits with permission to fly an internet mega-constellation.

Online retailer Amazon also has ambitions in this market. It’s working on a 3,200-satellite proposal known as Project Kuiper. All the concepts envisage flying spacecraft in a low-Earth orbit less than 2,000km above the planet. This will minimize the delay, or latency, in the internet connections.

Back of the Net(plus)! India scores a GPON screamer

Netplus, the broadband arm of Fastway Media, a prominent Multi-System Operator (MSO) in India, will deploy Nokia’s Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) technology to meet growing demand for more capacity, faster speeds and superior quality of broadband services.

Nokia’s GPON technology will be rolled out across the country with initial deployments starting in the states of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The upgraded network will allow Netplus subscribers to enjoy new ultra-broadband such as IPTV and quad-play services. The solution, based on Nokia’s mini-OLT and ISAM DF products, facilitates flexible deployments deep in the network, eliminating the need for a central office while driving cost efficiencies.

Prem Ojha, Chief Executive Officer, Fastway Group, said: “The demand for high speed and quality broadband is increasing across the country. Our network infrastructure will allow us to provide best-in-class broadband network to our subscribers. We are confident that Nokia’s field-proven products and solutions will enable us to enhance the overall quality of our services and will also empower Netplus Broadband in delivering converged services that include hi-speed broadband, Smart Voice, and OTT and IPTV services.”

A dose of full fiber makes for a healthy UK broadband digest

A new report from the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic has estimated that alternative “full fiber” (FTTP/B) broadband ISPs grew their coverage by 30% in 2018, reaching 1,298,185 UK premises. Related providers are now forecast to reach 3.38m premises by the end of 2020 and 15.96m by 2025.

The figures are notably lower than Ofcom’s recent update (here), which reported that ultrafast full fiber networks had now passed around 1.8 million premises by January 2019 (7% UK coverage). The reason for that is largely because INCA has excluded Openreach’s (BT) rollout of Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and focused its attention on independent alternative network (altnet) ISPs, such as B4RN, CityFibre, Gigaclear, Hyperoptic and many more.

Malcolm Corbett, INCA CEO, said: “These latest figures are very promising. The scale of investment in the UK’s independent network sector over the past year has reached an impressive level, with £3.36 billion of private funding being committed. This has contributed to the flourishing independent sector in the UK and the great work that is being done to connect homes, schools and businesses across the country.”

DT’s new signing coup will digitalize Germany

Deutsche Telekom has signed a cooperation agreement with Gigabit Region Stuttgart to expand and upgrade its fiber-optic network. The agreement aims to expand high-speed internet services, as well as plug gaps in the mobile network in preparation for a pilot launch of 5G.

The expansion area covered in the agreement includes 174 municipalities in the city of Stuttgart as well as five neighboring districts. All told, there are around 2.8 million people in the agreement’s footprint as well as 140,000 businesses. By 2025, 99% of the population will be able to use LTE in the area thanks to the upgrade of the fiber.

“We are keen to get started,” said Deutsche Telekom Deutschland Managing Director Dirk Wössner. “And, when we do, we are counting on the support of residents and local decision-makers. To digitalize Germany, we need the kind of conditions that allow us to roll out the fiber optic fast – jointly, pragmatically, unbureaucratically. There is still quite a bit to do in this respect.”

Fiber and 5G – a match made in heaven, says Emtelle

For operators to maximize the full potential of 5G and capitalize on their network infrastructure, fiber should be at the heart of every Fiber-To-The-x (FTTx) and mobile network. So says Paul McCue, Emtelle’s market specialist, 5G, IoT and Smart City today.

McCue explains that given the expected small cells, network densification and 5G requirements, it is essential that fiber is extended further into the mobile network. Fiber all the way to the antenna is becoming a necessity for many operators’ fronthaul and backhaul to cater for reliable, low latency and higher bandwidth demands.

“Many companies have already planned and noticed the pivotal role fiber will play in 5G networks, which is acting as a catalyst for them to adopt new approaches to their network builds. As operators switch on 5G, FTTx and existing mobile backhaul will converge, creating a robust network which can support the high-speed, anytime, anywhere connectivity that is required. With fiber at small cells, we see that backhaul connections follow similar routes as street layouts in an FTTx network,” stated McCue.

Broadband Forum tops the bill in Ovum report

In Ovum’s latest report – entitled ‘Status of “Software Defined” in Broadband Access Networks: Finally moving from concept to reality’ – Software-Defined access initiatives in the industry are explored.

In particular, the report looks at Broadband Forum’s latest initiatives including OB-BAA and CloudCO, making recommendations for CSPs and vendors.

To purchase the full Ovum report, please visit: https://ovum.informa.com/resources/product-content/status-of-quotsoftware-definedquot-in-broadband-access-networks-spt002-000214.

A Series of Fortunate Events – by Broadband Forum

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. 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.