2019.11.12 – Broadband Forum and UNH-IOL Gfast certifications continue to grow driven by 212 MHz profile

Broadband Forum and UNH-IOL Gfast certifications continue to grow driven by 212 MHz profile and expanding use cases

ADTRAN, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nokia extend universe of certified equipment ready for mass deployment ahead of next Gfast Plugfest

Fremont, California, 12 November, 2019: Broadband Forum today announced that ADTRAN, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nokia have joined the expanding list of companies and equipment to have successfully completed its Gfast certification program, including its new 212 MHz certification. These additions widen the options available for carriers to confidently deploy Gfast technology globally.

This series of certifications was recently completed at Broadband Forum’s official Gfast test house, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). In addition to a number of 106a profile certifications for Cisco, Broadcom has joined ADTRAN, Intel, NetComm, and Nokia on the growing list of companies that have successfully completed certification with the new 212a profile, which demonstrates interoperability between 212 MHz Gfast products. This signals market readiness for multi-vendor installations in this highly anticipated segment of the market.

Keeping pace with the accelerating rate of innovation in the industry, Broadband Forum will hold its next Gfast Plugfest, also hosted by UNH-IOL, on November 18-22, with a focus on testing the latest enhancements and additions to Gfast technologies.

“Operators are continuing to invest in Gfast technology as it allows them to diversify their tools for delivering gigabit speeds and excellent performance, without having to invest in costly network overhauls. The new 212 MHz Gfast equipment and certifications bring further benefits as consumers demand faster and more reliable broadband. Interoperability remains key to unlocking the mass deployments that will make the technology successful and the Broadband Forum’s early certification program plays a significant role in enabling this.”

The 212 MHz Gfast certification augments Broadband Forum’s Gfast certification program, which currently requires bit rates of up to 1.45 Gbps and requires connectivity up to 400 meters. Broadband Forum expects to test performance at higher rates as it develops further specifications.

“212 MHz Gfast technology promises to hit the ‘sweet spot’ of performance and density necessary to accelerate the deployment of gigabit-capable services over existing infrastructure in the underserved MDU market. These latest additions add to a growing wave of certifications that reinforce that Gfast is moving into mass deployment and already supported by a rich variety of interoperable industry leaders.”

“The benefits of Gfast technology are increasingly being recognized by operators seeking to achieve the speed and reliability of high-speed broadband through hybrid network architectures, balancing services offerings and capital investment. Gfast technology acts as a necessary complement to fiber and remains a crucial technology for operators, expanding subscriber coverage in areas where full-fiber or Fiber-to-the-Home cannot be deployed expediently, physically, or cost-effectively.”

For more information on Broadband Forum Gfast certification and testing, as well as a series of videos from Gfast 212 MHz certification program beneficiaries ADTRAN, Intel, and Nokia sharing their perspectives on the overall value of interoperability certification, click here.

The full list of certified Gfast products is available online, in an easy to use, searchable database: https://bbf-gfast-cert.iol.unh.edu/.

For more information on how Broadband Forum and its membership are shaping the future of broadband, visit: www.broadband-forum.org.

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About the Broadband Forum

Broadband Forum is the communications industry’s leading organization focused on accelerating broadband innovation, standards, and ecosystem development. Our members’ passion – delivering on the promise of broadband by enabling smarter and faster broadband networks and a thriving broadband ecosystem.

Broadband Forum is an open, non-profit industry organization composed of the industry’s leading broadband operators, vendors, thought leaders who are shaping the future of broadband, and observers who closely track our progress. Its work to date has been the foundation for broadband’s global proliferation and innovation. For example, the Forum’s flagship TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol has nearly 1 billion installations worldwide.

Broadband Forum’s projects span across 5G, Connected Home, Cloud, and Access. Its working groups collaborate to define best practices for global networks, enable new revenue-generating service and content delivery, establish technology migration strategies, and engineer critical device, service & development management tools in the home and business IP networking infrastructure. We develop multi-service broadband packet networking specifications addressing architecture, device and service management, software data models, interoperability and certification in the broadband market.

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For more information about the Broadband Forum, please go to https://www.broadband-forum.org or follow @Broadband_Forum on Twitter. For further information please contact Brian Dolby on +44 (0) 7899 914168 or brian.dolby@proactive-pr.com or Jayne Brooks on +44 (0) 1636 704 888 or jayne.brooks@proactive-pr.com