2021.04.02 – Open Broadband News

How Broadband Forum’s work is crucial to the broadband ecosystem

If anything good can be said about 2020, perhaps it is that it proved to be a catalyst of sorts, bringing about a renewed appreciation for broadband services that deliver performance and reliability. As we found ourselves dealing with the reality of remote work and home schooling as well as increased dependence on connectivity for entertainment and social interaction, providers responded to unprecedented traffic growth by not just maintaining but improving broadband performance over the last year.

The same can be said of the Broadband Forum, as we adjusted to working 100% virtually in response to the global pandemic. In 2020, the BBF demonstrated a high level of activity despite the challenges of the new normal. We published 25 technical reports plus 14 application notes, test plans, and market updates, as well as attracting 24 new members. The Broadband Forum also successfully held five virtual BASe events and more than 20 other events from the educational webinar series. These activities have helped to solidify the industry wide support we have cultivated over the past year.

The Broadband Forum has a long history of supporting the industry with Open Standards that facilitate ease of deployment, interoperability, vendor neutrality, and time to market. In addition, our testing and certification programs and numerous plugfests promote interworking as well as facilitating carrier-grade performance that now extends into the Connected Home. On the marketing and education side, our BASe events and webinars have increased exponentially in recent years, both in number and attendance.

The full video on Ken Ko’s reflection on how Broadband Forum is continuing its vital work can be viewed here.

MaxLinear, Axiros, and Vodafone among winners at Broadband Forum’s Q1 meeting

The Broadband Forum recognized significant contributions made to the successful development of broadband open standards at its first quarterly meeting of the year.

MaxLinear’s Dr. Aleksandra Kozarev was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow for helping drive forward copper technologies including G.fast, G.hn, MoCA, and VDSL2 across the industry. She has also been a driving force behind FANCE (Fiber Access Network Copper Extensions), opening the path for extending fiber fed services into the premises.

Circle of Excellence awards were presented to Daniel Egger (Axiros) and Jonathan Newton (Vodafone) for consistently exhibiting leadership and diligence in pursuit of advancing the Forum’s mission. Mr Egger’s key contributions to many areas of the Connected Home, Open-Source projects and expertise in remotely managing Connected Home devices were recognized. Mr. Newton was thanked for his contribution and leadership in the Access and Transport Architecture Work Area’s Disaggregated Broadband Network Gateway (DBNG) and Quality of Experience Delivered (QED) projects over the past few years.

“2020 was a year full of challenges and saw the broadband community come together as one to continue to work together constructively and collaboratively to keep the industry progressing and thriving,” said Broadband Forum Chairman John Blackford.

5G to shake up the cybersecurity sector – according to report 

Thanks to the recent cybersecurity epidemic (another one, and not entirely unrelated to Covid-19 when working from home opened up scope for the hackers) it looks like security is going to be a big deal through 2021 and beyond. Canalys claims that such was the escalation of security breaches last year that more records were compromised in just 12 months than in the previous 15 years combined.

The message to enterprises is “prioritize cybersecurity and invest in broadening protection, detection and response measures or face disaster,” according to Canalys Chief Analyst Matthew Ball.

ABI Research claims that the cloud-native nature of 5G networks means they will have both a “disruptive and positive impact” on the cybersecurity industry. It calculates that network security represents a £9 billion enterprise market opportunity for 5G network operators since the networks will offer a safer home for security offerings because of 5G’s cloud native virtualization, API-driven platforms and its ‘isolation’ capabilities, thanks to the use of containers and network slicing.

Knock knock! FCC to conduct broadband survey across the US

As part of a new data collection effort on broadband service and availability in the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is going right to the people for details on their experience.

Last week, the FCC announced it will start collecting: “first-hand accounts on broadband availability and service quality directly from consumers.” The effort is part of the agency’s Broadband Data Collection program to reform long-standing inaccuracies in the FCC’s mapping data in order to direct broadband services and funds where they are needed. A cross-agency task force to fix the mapping problem was formed in February.

“Far too many Americans are left behind in access to jobs, education, and healthcare if they do not have access to broadband,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, acting FCC Chairwoman. “Collecting data from consumers who are directly affected by the lack of access to broadband will help inform the FCC’s mapping efforts and future decisions about where service is needed.”

Broadband Forum’s TR-069 tool passes the test!

Certifying internet-connected devices for the home as compliant with the industry’s most widely deployed management protocol will become quicker and easier thanks to approval of the first TR-069 self-testing tool.

The enablement of self-testing for TR-069 provides operators and vendors with the ability to perform test procedures themselves that would normally be carried out by a qualifying test lab. It also ensures that vendors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can prove their devices work, which offers providers a benchmark they can use with vendors and their customer integrations. TR-069 enables the remote and safe configuration of network devices, or customer premises equipment (CPE).

“This is a landmark moment for global broadband players across the industry as our first self-certification tool as part of the BBF.069 CPE Certification Program will allow devices to pass certification quicker than ever before,” said Broadband Forum Managing Director Ken Ko. “As vendors and providers seek to introduce products to market cost-effectively, they now have the opportunity to get involved in the program and have the confidence to certify their products seamlessly”.

Friendly Technologies to open for business in Mexico City

Friendly Technologies Ltd, an Israel-based IoT (Internet of Things) and device management company, has announced the opening of its Latin American sales and support office in Mexico City, Mexico. The opening underscores Friendly’s business strategy to address emerging markets across Latin America. The company already has offices across the world, including Israel, USA, Ukraine, Colombia, and South Africa.

According to a comprehensive report released by the Broadband Forum and OMDIA, sponsored in part by Friendly Technologies, there are currently more than 13.4 billion connected devices in the world. Latin America accounts for a large chunk of this market, necessitating the establishment of data standards and development of open platforms. Friendly’s DM (Device Management) platform aids its customers to connect and provision new devices automatically, update firmware remotely, and generate essential business reports.

The Connected Home is an essential part of the broadband network, and global growth is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. It is in this context that Friendly Technologies has continued to assist service providers with top-notch device management and network solutions. The company has been at the forefront of DM solutions across the world. Its carrier-grade platform for IoT, Smart Home, and TR-069 device management have helped service providers deliver exceptional UX to end users.