2020.01.17 – Open Broadband News

Operators can’t resist the temptation of virtualization

A boom in virtualization of fixed broadband access infrastructure is developing and will sweep through almost all connections over the next decade, passing the 500 billion mark in 2025, according to a new report from Rethink TV. That will be 40% of the total 1.26 billion global broadband subscriber base by then, compared with just 0.48% at the end of 2018 and 2.58% now at the start of 2020.

Virtualization, by decoupling hardware from software, allows both to be upgraded independently and brings the immediate benefit of being able to scale efficiently and smoothly to ever higher broadband speeds. In the longer term, a virtualized architecture is much better placed to usher in edge computing for evolving Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home services.

Let it Grow: Nigeria isn’t holding back any more

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) plans to work with operators to more than double the nation’s broadband coverage

Broadband access in Nigeria is currently accelerating at an impressive rate, but it builds on very humble beginnings. In 2000, Africa’s most populous nation had 79,000 internet users out of a population of 122.5 million – less than 0.1% of the country’s inhabitants.

But that has all changed in the last two decades. Nigeria’s broadband development has seen incredible growth. Most recently, the National Broadband Plan (NBP) 2013–2018 aimed to quintuple the nation’s broadband coverage and succeeded in doing so, bolstering it from 4–5% in 2013 to 31.5% in 2018

“I believe our objective is not to favor one technology over another but to figure out how we can get those critical services to many more Nigerians,” said Funke Opeke, MD/CEO of Main One Cable Company Limited and the chairperson of the NBP Committee, speaking about the new NBP.

When using Open Source, no one can hear you scream

Open source developments are the biggest single threat to today’s major telecom equipment vendors, according to the results of an industry survey conducted in late November ahead of Light Reading’s annual 2020 Vision Executive Summit. Almost 190 respondents from the industry shared their views in the survey, and as the accompanying graphic shows, “open” was the word that cropped up most in the responses to the question, “What is the biggest threat to today’s major telecom equipment vendors?”

The “open” response came in a number of different guises: “Open Source” was the most popular, but OpenRAN, the radio access network disaggregation development being promoted by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), was also specifically cited by multiple respondents.

Money, money, money, always sunny – in a rural high-speed broadband world

Approximately $550 million in funding for rural high-speed broadband projects under round two of the Rural eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program) is set to open on January 31, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced.

“This second round of ReConnect funding will help USDA be an even stronger partner in closing the digital divide in America’s rural communities,” Perdue said at a rural broadband event in December. “Our core mission at USDA is to increase rural prosperity through boosting economic opportunity in rural America. We know that rural communities need robust, modern infrastructure to thrive, and that includes having access to broadband e-Connectivity. USDA is proud to partner with rural communities to deploy this critical infrastructure, because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”

In March 2018, Congress provided $600 million to USDA to expand broadband infrastructure and services in rural America. To date, USDA has awarded $191 million through the ReConnect program.

Country roads, take me home to the place where broadband’s strong

Thousands more new-build homes are in line for a broadband boost as UK digital infrastructure provider Openreach extends the reach of its scheme offering Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) installation free of charge for new housing developments.

Developers building smaller new sites of just 20 or more properties are now eligible to have full fiber connectivity built across their sites at no cost when they register with Openreach.

More than 13,000 new homes across around 600 small housing developments per annum stand to benefit from being connected to the cutting-edge technology – which provides a faster, more stable service that’s ideal for families, home workers and small businesses.

“Our existing offer already provides huge benefits to both buyers and builders alike, but we want to go further and make sure everybody moving into a new build property can enjoy the advantages of full fiber broadband.”

B(r)ASe yourself! BASe FTTH Europe is coming

Broadband Forum has announced it will host the first ever BASe FTTH Europe! The seminar will take place on Tuesday, April 21 in Berlin, Germany.

Produced by Broadband Forum and created by technologists to provide actionable insights for technology leaders, the Broadband Acceleration Seminar (BASe) FTTH Europe 2020 workshop is a half-day event that combines deep insights from the world’s largest and most innovative service providers with the perspective of top tier analysts and leading vendors/suppliers.

The theme of the workshop will be “PON Reality Check 2020” and will be focused on capturing the challenges, opportunities, and innovations emerging in 2020. Topics covered will range from insights into the market and an array of existing and emerging PON architectures (EPON, GPON, XGS, NG-PON2, WDM PON, 25/50G PON, Super PON…) to perspectives on the state of standards (Broadbnd Forum, ITU, IEEE…). Ecosystem readiness for emerging use cases and applications, Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) and 5G, and best practices across the full spectrum of potential implementations – from SDN/NFV and network slicing to fiber extension technologies and whole home networking will also be covered.

Mark the occasion in your calendar now and stay tuned for more info to come.

Entries for Leading Lights Awards 2020 Now Open!

Entry for the Leading Lights Awards is now open!

The Leading Lights Awards recognize the industry’s top companies and their executives for their outstanding achievements in next-generation communications technology, applications, services, strategies, and innovation. Light Reading’s reputation for fiercely independent analysis of the people, products, and companies it covers makes this the most credible and authoritative awards program in the industry.

If you are a Broadband Forum member and your entry utilizes a Broadband Forum standard or initiative, please contact prteam@broadband-fourm.org to find out how we could support you create a winning entry.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 20, 2020.

Good Luck!

Get your bed booked for the Annual Q1 meeting: Budapest and Broadband await

The hotel reservations and meeting registration is now open for the Q1 Annual meeting taking place in Budapest, Hungary from March 2 – 5, 2020.

For more information please see the wiki page here.

Or on our website here.  

If you would like to register for the meeting click  here.