2020.09.11 – Open Broadband News

Not so G-fast! Broadband Forum’s Physical Layer Transmission Work Area is here to help

According to Herman Verbueken, Director of Broadband Forum’s Physical Layer Transmission Work Area, as the digital appetite continues to grow, delivering ultrafast broadband to end-users is at the top of every service provider’s agenda. Technologies are evolving quicker and quicker, with new applications such as Virtual Reality, cloud services for business and UHD streaming, demanding increased bandwidth to ensure they are widely adopted.

Addressing the last mile – that all important section of the network that reaches the premises – is key to achieving high speeds and the extra capacity needed to give consumers the bandwidth they crave for the plethora of new applications coming to the fore. This is where Broadband Forum’s Physical Layer Transmission Work Area steps in.

Broadband Forum is taking an important role in developing standardized interoperability and certification with its Physical Layer Transmission Work Area. By creating standardized interoperability and certification, a trusted base of equipment is built. For operators this brings accelerated time to market, avoiding large investments in time and customizations. For developers and implementers, interoperability provides invaluable feedback to improve and develop new products and services, and for the end-user it means more choices in devices and services at the lowest possible cost.

Air today PON tomorrow – Huawei launches solution for agile FMC access

 Together with HKT Hong Kong and Globe Philippines, Huawei held an online commercial release conference to launch the AirPON solution and share its innovative applications. This solution reuses existing wireless sites to build full-fiber access networks for mobile operators quickly and at a low cost.

As mobile operators transform from mobile to full-service operations, they face huge challenges in Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network construction. Traditionally, operators had to deploy centralized Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) in central office equipment rooms and lay out massive optical cables to reach users. Network construction has always been time-consuming, expensive, while services have been slow to provision. Huawei AirPON solution specifically addresses these challenges.

“The AirPON solution shortens the optical cables between OLTs and users from over 3km to below 300m, greatly improves the efficiency of optical cable deployment, and reduces the ROI period to less than 3 years. With it, operators can reap benefits faster when building full-fiber access networks,” said Gary Lu, President of Huawei Network Marketing & Solution Sales Department.

Google’s Orion Wifi aims to fix all Wi-Fi roaming woes

Google has announced a new platform called Orion Wifi that will allow owners of stadiums, shopping malls, office buildings and other locations with Wi-Fi networks to make money from customers who roam onto their hotspots.

So far, Google Fi and Republic Wireless have agreed to use the platform. That will allow customers of Google Fi and Republic Wireless to automatically roam onto Wi-Fi networks that support Orion Wifi without having to do anything, such as log in.

Raj Gajwani, Director of the Area 120 product incubator within Google, described Orion Wifi as an Airbnb for hotspots. “Our 5G future is not going to work unless you have heterogeneous networks,” Gajwani said.

Fib-tastico! Nokia and Open Fiber accelerate Italian broadband adoption

Nokia has announced that it has been awarded a contract with Open Fiber, Italy’s wholesale infrastructure operator, to supply cutting-edge optical transport technology for the expansion of Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) Ultra-Broadband (UBB) network nationwide.

Nokia is supporting Open Fiber’s commitment to build a fully fiber optical UBB network to connect more than 6,000 municipalities in all Italian regions.

“FTTH ultra-broadband infrastructure has proven to be a key factor for accelerating the digital transformation of our country, unlocking new opportunities for the Italian digital economy, boosting production and driving competitiveness. We believe that also selecting Nokia’s optical network products and solutions will further accelerate our FTTH infrastructure plan, bringing reliability, openness and innovation to the market,” said Elisabetta Ripa, CEO of Open Fiber.

Big wheels keep on turning, Argentina keep on earning, and we’re rolling, rolling, rolling to deliver!

Telecoms regulator Enacom has launched an up to 1 Billion-peso ($13.4 Million) tender to supply broadband internet services to underserved areas of Argentina and reduce the country’s digital gap.

These projects will be financed by the government, and the telecom companies can bid to supply internet service to shantytowns and settlements registered with the government.

Interested telecom companies should present proposals to develop a broadband network on one or more areas on the government register.

According to the tender documents, the awardees will build a broadband network with a minimum transmission capacity of about 100Mbps and 10Mbps for Wi-Fi and mixed networks, and provide all equipment required for internet connection (routers, modems, cables) to 30% of the final users with subsidies from the government.

Broadband Forum needs you!

Do you want to help shape the future of broadband? If so, why not become a Broadband Forum Work Area Director?

Broadband Forum is seeking the appointment of leaders for the following Work Areas:

• Access and Transport Architecture
• Broadband User Services
• Fiber Access Networks

The terms will last for two years, beginning from January 2021. To submit a candidacy statement, follow the instructions provided on Broadband Forum Members’ Wiki. The closing date for submissions is 28th September 2020 at 5pm Pacific Time.

For more information about what a Work Area Director’s role will entail, please visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Work+Area+Directors.

A Series of Fortunate Events – by Broadband Forum

Reality check: The State of PON in the MSO Market

Broadband Forum’s PON reality check 2020 series of webinars has concluded to keep the industry updated on the latest innovations influencing fiber today.

In the latest edition of the BASe webinar series, the Forum was joined by an expert panel of leading cable operators and vendors from Europe, North and South America, highlighting their vision and preferred PON technologies plus the challenges and opportunities when migrating and complimenting their existing HFC/DOCSIS investment.

The latest webinar took place on Thursday, September 10 at 7.30am PST, and the ‘State of PON in the MSO Market’ webinar featured presentations from Liberty Global, Telecom Argentina, CommScope, and Calix.

Virtual Broadband World Forum 2020 – discounted participation for BBF members

Broadband Forum will join the Virtual Broadband World Forum (BBWF) event on 13-15 October 2020. BBWF is offering Broadband Forum members the opportunity to participate in this major industry event at a reduced rate.

As a key, long-standing partner to Broadband World Forum, Broadband Form will remain a major contributor to the conference content.

Broadband Forum members interested in being part of the Interop Pavilion will enjoy the following perks:

• A discounted rate for a Broadband Forum pod at a fraction of what it would cost to display on the show floor independently at £2,900
• 2 x full access delegate passes for the conference
• 10% off from any full price exhibitor package

To find out more about features, capabilities and functionality of a virtual stand.  BBWF invites you to view a demo here: https://tmt.knect365.com/bbwf/client-demo-your-guide-to-the-virtual-platform/\.

For additional enquiries or to book a Broadband Forum pod, please contact Tamas Szuts on tamas.szuts@informa.com or +44 (0) 207 017 4260.

Virtually back to BASe-ics

Broadband Forum has confirmed the dates of its next vBASe sessions. It will host its first ever virtual demo at Broadband World Forum, from October 13-15, showcasing the latest developments of its OB-BAA initiative. A panelist session on the Connected Home, along with a live Q&A, will also be held.

vBASe North America will then take place on October 26, with a theme of “2020 Lessons, 2021 Reality”, while vBASe Australia will see Broadband Forum team up with nbn to provide three weekly 90 minute sessions to deliver a market update.

The vBASe series continues for the first-ever virtual UFBB 2020 during the weeks commencing November 16 and 23. vBASe UFBB will cover the theme of ‘The Technology Leaders’ and will see three virtual sessions on Market Update, Access technology and Connected Home technology.

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.

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