2020.08.28 – Open Broadband News

You’ll never mesh what? prpl Foundation releases Wi-Fi EasyMesh open-source software

prpl Foundation has announced the release of its prplMesh software stack, eligible for Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) certification as Release 1, for both Agent and Controller.

The mission of the prplMesh project is to lower the barrier to entry for service providers and their original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to widely deploy Wi-Fi EasyMesh home networks.  This is done by developing a highly portable carrier-grade open-source implementation of the WFA EasyMesh Specification.

Collaborating with Broadband Forum, prplMesh also includes a carrier-grade management interface, with a new data model for managing mesh networks.  The stack leverages a highly scalable “micro-services” architecture, proven as the best fit for open-source development by a diverse community of developers in dispersed geographies.

“We are very pleased to see our prplMesh project reach this important milestone as it progresses toward deployments later this year,” said Robert Ferreira, President of prpl Foundation. “The ecosystem values such an open-source implementation to accelerate widescale deployment of manageable Wi-Fi EasyMesh networks.”

The best that they’ve Everstream! Missouri gets first connectivity project in ten years

St. Louis, Missouri is set to get an 800-route-mile fiber network, courtesy of business-only fiber provider Everstream.

The announcement follows a series of recent moves by the company to expand in select Midwest markets. Earlier this year, Everstream said it would commit $250 million to building out fiber in the region, with plans to enter five new cities including Chicago, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

According to stats from BroadbandNow, Missouri ranks 32nd in the US for connectivity, but under 30% have access to fiber-optic service. In the state, St. Louis comes out on top with average speeds of 74.4 Mbit/s. Everstream projects that 150 route miles of its St. Louis build will be lit by the beginning of October, with an additional 150 miles to be lit in the first quarter of 2021.

UK households’ shop, shop, shop, with connected devices coming out on top!

It has been revealed that one in five UK adults – the equivalent of 10.3 million consumers – purchased at least one new digital device as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Deloitte’s Digital Consumer Trends 2020 report, up to 21.2 million digital devices were purchased during the first two months of the lockdown period, including two million printers and monitors. Fitness bands and smart watches both experienced a decline in usage as consumers spent more time at home as a result of the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has increased ownership of a wide range of technologies,” noted Paul Lee, Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications Research at Deloitte. “As lockdown restrictions lift, many will continue to use and enjoy these devices and may prove more open to trying out new technologies as a result. Today, households on average have more than ten digital devices, but in ten years’ time it’s likely to be more than one hundred.”

Wi-Five! Telebras installs first community internet access point

Telebras, a Brazilian telecommunications provider, has installed the first community Wi-Fi access point in Ipanguacu, Brazil, providing free internet for the Angelica farming community.

The aim of the state-sponsored program, which uses capacity on the SGDC satellite operated by Telebras, is to provide free internet access to regions with low connectivity. The access point provides a 20 Mbps connection and has a 200m radius coverage. As part of the Gesac program, Telebras is also providing internet access to 12,399 schools across Brazil.

A virtualized solution is on the Verizon

Verizon recently completed the first end-to-end fully virtualized 5G data session in the US. This technology milestone provides the foundation for Verizon to rapidly respond to customers’ varied latency and computing needs by providing the foundation for wide-scale mobile edge computing and network slicing.

Earlier this month, Verizon launched 5G mobile edge compute live for developers with AWS Wavelength at Verizon’s 5G Edge locations in Boston and the Bay Area.  As Verizon extends its MEC leadership, virtualization in the Radio Access Network (RAN) becomes even more important.

“Virtualizing the entire network from the core to the edge has been a massive, multi-year redesign effort of our network architecture that simplifies and modernizes our entire network,” said Adam Koeppe, Senior Vice President of Technology and Planning for Verizon. “Verizon has been on the leading edge of virtualizing the core over the past few years and has been bullish in the design and development of open RAN technology, as well as in the testing of that technology with great success.”

Scotland receives the green light for rural broadband vouchers

The Scottish government has announced that it will help remote parts of Scotland to attain solid broadband connections through a new voucher system.

The government’s plan, through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, is to have 100% of coverage in Scotland by the end of next year.

Homes and businesses not in the scope of either the reaching 100% contracts or commercial rollouts can apply for the scheme to obtain a 30Mbps capable connection.

“Digital connectivity has played a vital role in supporting our efforts to keep people safe during the Covid-19 lockdown and will be pivotal in plans for our strategic economic recovery from the pandemic,” said Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s Connectivity Minister.