2021.04.30 – Open Broadband News

Well would you look at that? Global fixed broadband users hit 1.18 billion

The latest research from Point Topic has found that world fixed broadband subscribers grew by 1.6% (18.59 million) in Q4 2020, which is down slightly from 2.07% in the previous quarter but still pushes the overall total to 1.18 billion. Meanwhile, the UK reported the strongest quarterly “full fiber” (FTTP) growth of any country on 28.6%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly a little over 42% of all net additions in fixed broadband subscribers came from East Asia, which also retained the largest regional market share of all subscribers at 47%. By comparison the whole of Europe came in at 21%, while North America (USA, Canada) were next on 11.46% and the rest of Asia accounted for a market share of 10.13%.

The study also found that the highest “full fiber” (FTTP/H) broadband growth rates were mainly in the developing markets, with the United Kingdom (28.6%), India (28.4%) and Chile (12.8%) topping the table with quarterly growth rates in double figures. This is hardly surprising given the huge amount of private investment that is currently flooding into the UK (Summary of UK Full Fiber Build Progress).

German Government lends a helping hand for Gigabit “grey spots”

Germany’s Federal Coalition Government is fading to grey in its attempt to expand fiber rollout to places generally not deemed by operators as giving attractive investment returns. Previously, only municipalities or districts in so-called “white spots” – areas where Internet speeds fell below 30 Mbit/s – could apply to the government’s special “digital infrastructure” fund. The rules have now changed.

The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has announced that local authorities in “grey spots,” where Internet speeds are below 100 Mbit/s, can also apply to the fund. The BMVI is also keen that “important connections,” such as schools, hospitals and Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), do the necessary fund paperwork if they happen to be in “white spots.” According to BMVI, the new measure will allow the federal government to support the expansion of fiber to a further 2.8 million premises.

Andreas Scheuer, Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, said the “grey spot” ruling was a boost for broadband expansion, and that it was another “big step” to achieving the coalition government’s “nationwide gigabit” target by 2025.

Livia Rosu elected as new President for HomeGrid Forum

HomeGrid Forum has announced that Livia Rosu has been appointed as its new President. With a career spanning 22 years in standardization and silicon development within the telecommunications industry, Rosu will continue to champion the innovation and deployment of G.hn across the world.

As President, she will lead global efforts to ensure G.hn devices meet the needs and expectations of various industries and usages. She will continue the move for G.hn technology to become a critical component of a widening portfolio of devices and use cases, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Connected Cars, Light Communications (Li-Fi) and Smart Grids.

Rosu leads with her resilience, mitigation skills and advocacy of market and technological convergence to aid the establishment of partnerships with key industry alliances and organizations, such as Broadband Forum, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the IPv6 Forum.

“I am honored to take over from Dr Leonard Dauphinee as President of the HomeGrid Forum and will continue to support our distinguished members in accelerating global connectivity rollouts,” said Rosu, who was unanimously elected as President by the Board.

Let’s look at today’s LEO horoscope: High-speed and low latency

The arrival of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) system will benefit underserved users in remote areas by supporting high-speed, low latency broadband service. Global tech market advisory firm ABI Research forecasts that the satellite broadband market will reach 3.5 million subscribers in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 8% to reach 5.2 million users in 2026, and generate US $4.1 billion service revenue.

LEOs, which reduce latency due to their lower orbits, may change the game. The biggest name is Starlink, which is part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It launched last year and so far has put more than 1,000 satellites in orbit. Plans call for it to serve more than 600,000 homes and businesses in the US.

“LEO satellites will play an important role in satellite broadband services in the years to come. High Throughput Satellite (HTS) LEO systems can support multi-Gbps speed per satellite. Orbiting around 800-1600 km from the Earth’s surface, LEO systems offer a major advantage of low latency between 30-50 milliseconds, enabling LEO broadband services to support low latency services such as online gaming and live video streaming,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, Industry Analyst at ABI Research.

1.5 million UK homes are without internet access finds Ofcom

About 1.5 million homes in the UK still do not have internet access, a report by Ofcom has found. The regulator has released its annual snapshot of online and media habits in the UK, which this year spans all three lockdowns.

It found 20% of children did not always have access to a device for online learning while schools were closed. Ofcom said in total 6% of the homes had no internet access at all, at the time the study was carried out last month. There were also 1% of adults aged over 18 who had internet access but chose not to use it. Those without access were most likely to be either people aged over 65, or households with low incomes or financial vulnerability.

Among children, tablets were the most popular device for five to 15-year-olds in 2020, although 91% of 12 to 15-year-olds had their own smartphones. It was also found that 48% of three to four-year-old pre-schoolers had their own tablets.

“We have a generation that has lost out for more than a year on the education that they need and will lose out when it comes to workforce qualifications, job prospects, and then income,” said Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “So, we’ve got to heal this digital divide. And I think the Government’s got to act pretty quickly.”