2021.04.09 – Open Broadband News

OpenVault study shows impact of pandemic on upstream broadband usage and network capacity

According to a new OVBI Special Report issued by OpenVault, Upstream usage grew 63% – from 19 GB to 31 GB – between December 2019 and December 2020, far outpacing the 18% rate of increase for the upstream in each of the two prior years.

The report also details how average upstream traffic during the 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. timeframe grew from 5.25 GB to 10.42 GB per subscriber per month as of December 2020, a 98.5% increase, while per-subscriber monthly downstream consumption during the same period increased just 51.74%, from 91.90GB to 139.45GB.

Remote work, education, entertainment and personal communication put significant pressure on operators’ significantly limited upstream capacity beginning in March 2020.

“Pandemic lockdowns changed the nature of upstream usage – in all likelihood, forever,” the report notes. “Continued high levels of remote work and a new embrace of videoconferencing for communication needs mean that consumption will pressure the limited upstream capacity of many broadband infrastructures. Moreover, the unique role of the upstream as an enabler of two-way communication makes unfettered performance essential.”

Broadband Forum global industry leadership strengthened with newly elected Board of Directors from North America, Europe and Asia

Broadband Forum announced the results of newly elected and re-elected members of its Board of Directors and the annual election of its officers that brings together representatives from leading global companies.

Chosen for a two-year tenure, leaders from a variety of operators and product and technology developers have joined or re-joined the eleven-member Board including Aleksandra Kozarev of MaxLinear, Barbara Stark of AT&T, Hongyu Li of Huawei, Manuel Paul of Deutsche Telekom and Mike Talbert of Verizon.

Accepting his new role of President of the Broadband Forum, Mike Talbert stated: “It is an honor and privilege to be elected by my industry peers. This is such an exciting time for the whole broadband industry, the terrible pandemic we have witnessed has truly demonstrated the importance of broadband for all areas of society from consumer, IoT, business and public services. The work we do delivering the open standards and open software directly impacts the entire future of the broadband eco-system for service providers and the broadband user’s experience.”

Bernd Hesse of Calix was appointed to the new role of Chief Marketing Officer of the Board. The new role, combined with Mr Hesse’s success in evangelizing the Forum and its activities, provides a well-established, industry champion to drive Forum awareness and development.

5G uptake accelerating as more and more networks go live and offer commercial services

New research from “5G Americas” shows that despite more than a year of the Covid-19 pandemic crippling economies around the world, 5G technology is powering ahead with more and more commercial deployments in place and ever-rising numbers of subscribers.

Globally, 385.5 million new 5G subscribers were recorded last year and the current total is 410 million and counting. According to research house Telegeography, there will be 277 5G networks in commercial operation by the end of this year.

Jose Otero, Vice President of Caribbean and Latin America for 5G Americas said: “Two elements can contribute to the proliferation of new commercial 5G networks in Latin America and the Caribbean. First, the increased availability of 5G-ready devices, especially for fixed wireless services. Second, governments’ efforts to accelerate the launch of 5G networks – that includes spectrum assignment processes, 5G incubator projects, spectrum auction announcements and incentives for 5G trials.”

Biden’s big infrastructure plan bills broadband as ‘the new electricity’

President Biden’s massive, $2 trillion infrastructure-focused “American Jobs Plan” includes an outlay of $100 billion to bring affordable, reliable broadband to all areas while also putting high-speed Internet subsidy programs on notice.

Biden’s plan, introduced following the recent passage of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, also seeks more pricing transparency among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and for “lifting barriers” that, it claims, prevents municipals and rural electric co-ops from competing with private providers.

The focus and rhetoric tied to the infrastructure plan could add to industry concerns that the Biden administration will soon put pressure on the FCC to reinstate network neutrality rules that were rolled back during the Trump administration. Some analysts believe that those concerns could be offset by several stimulus projects that will likely spur more broadband subscriber growth. However, Biden’s apparent targeting of individual subsidy plans – though no specific project has been identified yet – could shrink that view a bit.

How about that? Analysis: Broadband outranks pay-TV in Western Europe

The number of Western European pay-TV subscribers will fall by four million between 2020 and 2026 to 103 million, according to the Western Europe Pay TV Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Reflecting the importance of high-speed broadband for homes, IPTV is the top pay-TV platform by subscribers.

IPTV will gain four million subscribers between 2020 and 2026 to reach 47 million, with pay satellite TV down by 5 million to 18 million and cable down by 2 million to 37 million.

“European operators shifted their emphasis from premium TV to high-speed broadband delivery,” advises Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “This is particularly true in Denmark and Italy – which are at opposite ends of the pay TV penetration spectrum – where most operators promote OTT platforms ahead of traditional pay-TV ones.”

Sixty-week delay on router orders highlights scale of chip crisis

Broadband providers are seeing delays of more than a year when ordering internet routers, becoming yet another victim of chip shortages choking global supply chains and adding challenges for millions still working from home.

Running out of the right router would prevent a carrier from being able to add new subscribers to its network, risking lost sales in the ever-competitive broadband market. Their supply chains have become a headache because sharp coronavirus manufacturing shutdowns a year ago were exacerbated by a prolonged surge in demand for better home broadband equipment, said Karsten Gewecke, Head of European Regional Business for Zyxel Communications Corp, a Taiwan-based router-maker.

“It’s a snowball effect that we’re pushing in front of us, and the situation since then has just become worse and worse and worse,” said Gewecke. “When I talk to some of the chipset vendors, some of them tell me that they have something like overbooking of 300% of their capacity.”