2021.03.05 – Open Broadband News

Join our 5G Wireless – Wireline Convergence Work Overview webinar!

When: 10AM EST (4PM CET), Wednesday March 10th

Register for the first vBASe Knowledge work area webinar! Members from the work area will provide an overview of what 5G Wireless – Wireline Convergence is, the benefits of its work, how it started and much more.

Key topics covered include:

• How the work area started
• Collaborating with 3GPP
• Convergence of the 5G Core
• Broad view of the on-going transformation in the networks
• Use cases including Deployment Scenarios, Services Offered via Wireline NWT and New 5GC services

Guest speakers for this webinar are Dave Allan (Ericsson), Christele Bouchat (Nokia), Laurent Thiébaut (3GPP), Dave Woolley (Telstra) and Rosaria Persico (TIM).

Register here!

Meet Ken Ko! The new Managing Director of Broadband Forum

The Broadband Forum has a new Managing Director, Ken Ko. Total Telecom recently had the opportunity to meet Ken and ask him how he sees the role of the Forum now and in the future, and also how he came to be MD and what he sees as the scope of the role.

Ken has nearly forty years of experience in communications technology, including more than 25 years working with the global standards community. Ken helped develop multiple generations of voice frequency modems for Paradyne and AT&T before joining Rockwell Semiconductor to work in the fledgling broadband market. Most recently he worked at ADTRAN, where he worked as a Senior Staff Scientist researching technologies and developing communications standards at the Broadband Forum and other organizations.

Talking about the surge in broadband importance, Ken said: “We all have an appreciation on just how fast and reliable internet access is as we are dealing with this global pandemic. From working, to home-schooling, we are now relying on broadband for social interaction. I think broadband providers have really stepped up to the plate and proven that they are much more than just a ultility provider.”

AVSystem adopts User Services Support on its cloud platform

AVSystem has announced the introduction of the User Services Platform protocol support in its Cloud ACS platform.

For years, AVSystem’s Cloud ACS has been a leading solution for TR-069 device management. A platform that offers features such as remote provisioning, group device management, as well as advanced monitoring and reporting over TR-069, it has been trusted by internet service providers (ISPs) all over the world to improve service management and deliver high quality of service to their customers.

Now AVSystem takes the step to extend Cloud ACS’s stack to also include the User Services Platform (USP) protocol, also known as TR-369 (after the name of its technical specification). The new standard developed by the Broadband Forum – an organization of which AVSystem is a member – is gaining traction in the telecoms industry. Modelled after the hugely successful TR-069 protocol, it draws on over a decade of experience in developing a telco-specific standard and combines it with the market insight that the Broadband Forum has on the future needs of the industry.

“USP is the standardized, interoperable platform that combines open source and open standards to enable seamless and more efficient monitoring, controlling, and management of connected devices and subscriber WiFi,” said Craig Thomas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Business Development at Broadband Forum. “Service and application providers across the industry continue to recognize the immense importance of USP and how this can vastly improve the Connected Home experience for the end-user.”

The full interview with Ken Ko can be viewed here.

Broadband Forum charts how copper can lead to fiber dividends

For telecom operators and service providers seeking to roll-out future-proofed fiber-grade services, Broadband Forum has published its latest technical report to help ensure that homes and businesses have access to faster, more reliable broadband connectivity by harnessing the copper infrastructure.

The Broadband Forum’s TR-419: Fiber Access Extension over Existing Copper Infrastructure report shows how fiber-based access can be provided to customers by utilizing existing copper infrastructure as opposed to the installation of fiber to end-users’ premises, which may not be economically or physically viable. According to the report, FTTep (Fiber to the extension point) lets service providers deploy fiber-grade services by leveraging the last meters of copper to extend the fiber network without lowering quality when compared to complete FTTH (Fiber to the home) networks.

“The collaboration on TR-419 among industry associations, such as HomeGrid Forum, MoCA and Broadband Forum, ensures service operators stay ahead of customer demands with cost-effective deployment options and managed services,” said Dr. Leonard Dauphinee, Vice President and CTO of Broadband Products at MaxLinear. “Broadband Forum’s TR-419 work is agnostic of copper in building technologies, allowing vendors to choose the right technology for each deployment. I want to acknowledge Broadband Forum for incorporating G.fast, G.hn Access and MoCA Access 2.5 in the FTTep architecture of TR-419.”

Research reveals broadband cancellations in more than 15 million US homes

Findings from research firm Parks Associates indicate that more than 12 million US households have cancelled their home broadband service and use only mobile broadband for their Internet needs.

The firm’s report, Adoption and Perception of Broadband, suggests there are more than 15 million households in the US that have only a mobile broadband service, which includes more than three million households that have never had a home internet subscription.

“High cost is the most prominent issue driving households to cut the cord and go mobile only, although service-related issues, from slow speeds to poor customer experience, also contribute,” advised Kristen Hanich, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Service providers can deploy a number of strategies, including increasing speed and delivering a device that improves Wi-Fi coverage, in order to protect their customer base.”

The report finds that smart Wi-Fi or mesh networking products that would improve Wi-Fi coverage are powerful incentives to staunch churn, as 75 per cent of households likely to switch would stay with their current provider if offered these solutions. Currently 94 per cent of all US broadband households use Wi-Fi networking at home, and more than half report problems with their internet experience.

Go backstage with Broadband Forum!

The work of the Broadband Forum spans many areas, from detailed architectural and protocol specifications to consumer-facing and marketing documentation, specifications defining how to use different types of transmission media to provide high-speed connections, open source broadband access constructs, and more.

Behind the scenes, Broadband Forum participants navigate detailed tools and rules while empowering the Forum’s accelerating progress. To get the most of your company’s membership with the broadband industry’s leading organization focused on innovation, standards, and ecosystem development, there are three important principles to learn:

1. Why Broadband Forum?
2. How to navigate the Forum’s member-only tools
3. Understanding how Broadband Forum work progresses

The Broadband Forum Wiki is a collaboration tool for members to participate, contribute, and collaborate on projects, serving as our members-only home base for everything Broadband Forum. The Wiki works in tandem with other tools, including Jira project management, Bitbucket code repository, and Bamboo continuous integration. This allows our members to collaborate in real-time across the industry and across all corners of the globe. Read the full blog from April Nowicki, Member Support Manager at Broadband Forum here.