2020.07.24 – Open Broadband News
UK lays down the law for better broadband
New law changes will be introduced in the UK in a bid to bring better connectivity to the country. The move is part of a plan to deliver the telecoms infrastructure the UK needs to meet the growing demands of consumers and businesses and to take advantage of future technologies that will be vital for the economy.
The telecoms regulator Ofcom will be granted new powers so it can share with the government information from broadband companies about where they plan to build gigabit-capable broadband networks, and to publish data about areas where gigabit broadband rollout is not currently planned.
Matt Warman, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said: “We’re investing billions so no part of the UK is left behind by the opportunities and economic benefits that faster, more reliable and more secure digital connectivity brings. These changes will help target public funding in hard to reach areas most in need of better broadband.”
Home is where the smart device is
The Z-Wave Alliance has released its second Z-Wave State of the Ecosystem Report. The report examines smart home and connected technology and seeks to explore the smart home landscape as it exists today, current and future trends, and new opportunities with an emphasis on the role Z-Wave technology plays in the advancement of the industry.
According to the report, water, all-in-one sensors, and smart doorbells all grew by more than 500 percent from 2019 to 2020.
“There is no shortage of possibilities for the internet of things,” said Mitch Klein, Executive Director at Z-Wave Alliance. “Smart Home has changed our way of life. In 2005, there were less than ten Z-Wave devices on the market, and today there are over 3,300 certified products worldwide across an Alliance of hundreds of global member companies. As we look ahead, we see tremendous opportunity for Z-Wave to continue to advance the way we live.”
5G becomes 22 billion times better in South Korea
South Korea’s three major mobile operators have agreed to invest US$22 billion (KRW 25.7 trillion) over the next 18 months, to boost 5G infrastructure across the country.
With a 2022 deadline, the carriers are SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus. The investment was announced in a joint meeting with Science and ICT Minister Choi Ki-young, at the Central Government Complex in downtown Seoul, last week.
The aim is to enhance 5G quality in Seoul and six other metro cities. The plan will also see 5G deployed in 2,000 multi-purpose facilities, on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 9, and along major highways.
In 2021, the carriers will expand 5G connectivity to an additional 85 districts, including 4,000 multi-purpose facilities, subways and all train stations, as well as 20 additional highways.
Australian Broadband Advisory Council to make broadband (vegi)mighty
The Australian Government has established an Australian Broadband Advisory Council to provide it with advice on maximizing the “economic upside” of increased digital connectivity for Australian businesses and consumers.
The Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher said the Council will consider the productivity benefits of 5G technologies as its rollout advances, and the 5G Working Group previously managed by the Department of Communications will be reconstituted as a sub-group of the Council, to provide advice on 5G as a new broadband platform and possible 5G use cases.
The Minister also said the Council will be charged with identifying further ways that digital connectivity can be leveraged to support Australia’s economy, including the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oh! Wales! What’s occurin’? A full fiber rollout of course
The Welsh Government has announced an extension for the rollout of superfast fiber broadband across the country to cover the 5% of homes and businesses that were not covered under the Superfast Cymru.
Under the package of measures for covering the remaining premises, the Welsh Government has reached an agreement with Openreach. The agreement will see the network provider increase the premises to be connected with fiber fast broadband from 26,000 premises to 39,000.
The extension to the superfast fiber broadband project is supported by a £30m funding from the Welsh Government and European Union, with additional investment to come from Openreach.
Openreach Wales Partnership Director Connie Dixon said: “We’re delighted to be able to build our next-generation full fiber network even further across rural Wales as a result of this extension.”
A Series of Fortunate Events – by Broadband Forum
Time to get on the case for UFBB BASe
The ‘Call for Proposals’ for this year’s UFBB BASe Conference, the leading industry event for technologists and strategists, is now open.
The event, which takes place from 17th-19th November 2020, focuses on how operators plan to leverage the latest advancements within the access network, broadband connectivity, and within the connected home. Unlike many events, UFBB is designed to meet the requirements for more technical discussion, real-life implementations, testing, and strategic technical planning as well as valuable peer-to-peer networking.
Speakers will have the opportunity to speak in front of an extremely loyal and growing technical decision-making audience of service providers from Europe and throughout the globe as well as a very varied vendor representation.
If you wish to propose specific topics and presentation opportunities for this leading event, please review the below link and submit your proposal to basechair@broadband-forum.org. Proposals should be made for a physical event, but potential speakers should also be aware of the possibility of presentations having to be made virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities for this event, please contact rheier@broadband-forum.org. To learn more, click here.
Back to BASe-ics – the emerging reality of PON in 2020
With full broadband connectivity services, the Connected Home and the customer experience becoming more critical than ever, Broadband Forum and its BASe series have a responsibility of keeping the industry informed and inspired.
While stay at home initiatives across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic make this more difficult, staying up to date is crucial to make sure the entire ecosystem can continue to work together to deliver the optimum service customers require.
Therefore, Broadband Forum has reformatted its BASe workshops. The BASe events are face to face workshops and the vBASe events are webinars. With the new-look workshops delivered via a series of upcoming webinars, people can access the latest information on technologies driving the broadband industry and learn about the latest technologies enabling the next era of connectivity.
Our final “PON 2020 Reality Check” Webinars #6 and #7 will cover the topic of the state of PON applications in the MSO market, taking place August 27th and September 10th.
It is also set to be a hectic last quarter of 2020, with Broadband Forum’s physical BASe events set to return from October including vBASe North America, in Las Vegas, USA and UFBB BASe 2020 is scheduled to return in November, in Den Haag, The Netherlands, for the twelfth consecutive year. Also, the first ever BASe FTTH Europe 2020 will take place at FTTH Conference, in Berlin, Germany, in December.
For more information about the BASe Webinars and to register for the next event, please click here.
Missed the last PON Webinar? Listen again here.
Read – or watch – all about it!
From 5G and the smart home to next-generation access and network automation, Broadband Forum is working on a series of initiatives to enable the next era of connectivity. If you would like to track or get involved in these projects, you can learn more about Broadband Forum’s work in progress here or visit its YouTube channel for further insight.
For Press and Analyst inquiries, contact Proactive PR at broadbandforum@proactive-pr.com
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