2020.03.13 – Open Broadband News

One small step for the Forum, one giant step for Open Broadband

Broadband Forum has published Release 3.0 of its Open Broadband – Broadband Access Abstraction (OB-BAA) open-source project, easing migration to interoperable cloud-based access networks.

Building on previous releases of the OB-BAA code distributions – which allows operators to utilize their traditional management systems in co-existence with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) enabled management and control systems – Release 3.0 provides capabilities to manage Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) based Access Nodes via the vendor’s adapters, thus accelerating migration to SDN-based automation platforms.

This enables operators to efficiently and cost-effectively monitor and improve network performance, as well as allow them to modify information within the network to change device behaviour, opening up new possibilities for enhanced service assurance. In addition, notification capabilities are also improved to allow for subscriptions for notifications, enabling operators to effectively monitor network events such as failures or alarms.

Bon appetit! Full fiber is ingredient of choice in France’s broadband diet

French regulator ARCEP has given Gallic approval to the country’s latest broadband statistics, saying the transition from broadband subscriptions to superfast broadband – downlink speeds equal to or above 30 Mbit/s – going along at a “steady pace.”

Consumer attraction to superfast broadband is almost entirely driven by Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH). From October to December 2019, France mustered an additional 725,000 superfast broadband subscriptions, taking the total up to 11.4 million. Considering the wave of superfast broadband newbies, FTTH accounted for a huge 97% in France.

As of December 2019, the number of “end-to-end fiber access lines” calculated 7.1 million, an increase of 2.3 million over the course of the year. However, the full-fiber subscriber uptick was a much slower 1.5 million during 2018.

But it is steady as she goes – as ARCEP pointed out – rather than a consumer stampede to superfast broadband and full fiber. Over the course of 2019, France added 2.4 million superfast broadband subscriptions, up from 2 million additions in 2018.

£1 billion to be pumped into England’s green and pleasant broadband  

After months of wrangling, the UK government, regulator Ofcom and mobile operators have agreed terms for a “world-first” Shared Rural Network.

The £1 billion agreement will be signed by ministers and operators, with the funds invested jointly by the operators matched by the government.

Hamish MacLeod, Director at Mobile UK, the trade association of the four UK mobile operators – EE, O2, Three, Vodafone – explained: “The Shared Rural Network partnership between the mobile operators and the government is unprecedented in both its scope and its ambition.”

He added: “The new deal means the four networks have committed to legally binding contracts and investing £532 million to close almost all partial not-spots: areas where there is currently only coverage from at least one but not all operators. This investment will then be backed by more than £500 million of government funding to eliminate hard-to-reach areas where there is currently no coverage from any operator. This will provide new digital infrastructure in total not-spot areas not commercially viable for the operators.”

5G and IoT at the heart of healthcare

Healthcare providers can more effectively care for patients by applying the low latency of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) technology into their services, creating new use cases such as remote surgery.

When providing care to a patient, seconds can matter in delivering quality service or saving lives and connecting IoT devices with 5G networks has the potential to make that difference.

With the advent of 5G connectivity, opportunities abound for healthcare providers and facilities to deliver critical care on-demand, powered by low latency and edge computing. 5G’s agility, combined with IoT’s interconnectivity, offers promise for the future of healthcare innovation. There are several promising 5G IoT use cases in healthcare such as remote robotic surgery, connected medical devices and ambulances operating on dedicated network slices.

Country roads, take me home, to the place – with broadband!

The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act, aiming to improve the accuracy of broadband maps for rural America, has been unanimously passed by the Senate.

The House recently passed a new version of a bill, which is meant to improve the accuracy of maps detailing where broadband is and isn’t available in the US. The legislation is now on a fast track to the Senate, before going to President Donald Trump.

The purpose of the Broadband DATA Act is to ensure the FCC collects more-granular information about where broadband does and doesn’t exist. The bill requires the agency to deliver new rules for data collection and “establish a process to verify the accuracy of such data, and more.”

The FCC has already begun a process to improve the accuracy of its mapping by allowing the accuracy of the data to be verified by crowdsourcing.

ETSI launches fixed network group – but why?

ETSI, one of the most respected specifications organizations in the communications networking industry, has launched a new group focused on the evolution of fixed networks in a move that highlights the importance of fiber architectures and in-building connectivity to a broader 5G world.

But while fixed line infrastructure is as important as ever, Ray Le Maistre, of Broadband World News, has asked the question, does it need its own ETSI group?

The group, Industry Specification Group for the Fifth Generation of Fixed Network (ISG F5G), will be headed by Dr. Luca Pesando, a standards work coordinator at Italian national operator TIM. Pesando is also an active participant in ETSI’s Experiential Networked Intelligence (ENI) group,  who are examining the use of AI techniques in network management processes.

The group has defined five work items, namely (and as defined by ETSI):

• F5G use cases:the use cases include services to consumers and enterprises and will be selected based on their impact in terms of new technical requirements identified.
• Landscape of F5G technology and standards:this work will study technology requirements for F5G use cases, explore existing technologies, and perform the gap analysis.
• Definition of fixed network generations:to evaluate the driving forces and the path of fixed network evolution, including transport, access and on-premises networks. It will also identify the principal characteristics demarcating different generations and define them.
• Architecture of F5G: this will specify the end to end network architectures, features and related network devices/elements’ requirements for F5G, including on-premises, Access, IP and Transport Networks.
• F5G quality of experience:to specify the end-to-end quality of experience (QoE) factors for new broadband services. It will analyze the general factors that impact service performance and identify the relevant QoE dimensions for each service.

A Series of Fortunate Events – by Broadband Forum

To broadband and beyond – register for UFBB BASe

The Ultra-Fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB-BASe) workshop is back this year and better than ever, with world-class visionaries from around Europe and the world.  Registration is open for Europe’s favorite broadband workshop by technology innovators for technology leaders!

UFBB BASe is the premier communications industry event that focuses on the important policies, trends, technologies, and opportunities that affect broadband in Europe and beyond in 2020. Unique in its balance of vision, real-world experience, and technical/operational insights, this seminar provides thought leadership, high quality speakers, technical acumen and an excellent networking opportunity.

Broadband Forum, the communications industry’s leading organization focused on accelerating broadband innovation, standards, software and ecosystem development manages both the content and logistics for this event.

The dates and location are 2 – 4 June 2020 at the NH Hotel in Den Haag, the Netherlands. Make sure to reserve these dates on your calendar as updates will be forthcoming on the UFBB BASe website!

Swap the date – Broadband Forum Q2 Meeting will start one day later

The Broadband Forum Q2 2020 Meeting will now be held on June 16^th-19^th, one day later than originally planned.

All other details remain the same, including the meeting registration and contribution deadline on June 8^th, 2020, and the hotel reservation deadline on 22^nd May 2020.

The meeting will be preceded by the first BASe event to be held in Australia. Taking place at the Crown Promenade Hotel, in Melbourne, the workshop will host panels on a number of topics, including 5G, USP, CloudCO, open sourcing, and migration. There will also be a number of networking opportunities throughout the week.

Many sponsorship opportunities are still available, offering a unique opportunity to highlight your brand in front of the significant influencers of the broadband ecosystem.

For more information, please click here.

USP Plugfest-apalooza! Participate in the next event

If you are building a USP/TR-369 solution, there is no better way to accelerate development than by testing your implementation with other solutions created by your peers and other member companies.

To help bring member solutions first to market, Broadband Forum is holding its next TR-369/USP Plugfest from May 11-15, 2020, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory in Durham, NH, USA.

In addition to interoperability testing, there will be an opportunity to test against the Conformance Test Plan for USP Agents, TR-469, to help give feedback to the plan and drive the certification program into its next phases.

You can register for the event here:  https://www.iol.unh.edu/event/2020/05/broadband-forum-usp-may-plugfest