2021.11.05 – Open Broadband News

Why dynamic session steering could change the game for operators

Broadband Forum offered a tantalizing glimpse of what the networks of the future might look like, demonstrating a technology called dynamic session steering which uses software-defined networking (SDN) to reconfigure a user’s connection on the fly based on the application they’re using.

The exhibition was the latest breakthrough in Broadband Forum’s work on its Cloud Central Office (CloudCO) project. Launched in 2016, CloudCO reimagines traditional central office hosting infrastructure by shifting to an SDN-based model which incorporates cloud capabilities and virtualization to make network functions more agile. By standardizing the interfaces between different elements, CloudCO also aims to enable interoperable multi-vendor deployments.

While Broadband Forum has hosted CloudCO demonstrations for several years, this time around it wanted to showcase something new. Cue dynamic session steering (which is also known as subscriber session steering). “We’ve been doing some work within the Broadband Forum of separating the control and user plane, particularly around the BNG, and we wanted to show how that could be used to do dynamic session steering,” said Tim Carey, lead technology strategist at Nokia and chair of Broadband Forum’s Open Broadband-Broadband Access Abstraction project.

The full CloudCO demonstration video can be found here.

5G-Force accelerates through Asia

A new IDC study of Asian enterprise and 5G adoption contains promising news for telcos.

In a region that has had the greatest exposure to 5G, most businesses recognize the value of the new network because of its speed, agility and scalability, an IDC survey has found. Specifically, 50 per cent to 55 per cent of Asia-Pacific organizations see 5G as superior to previous generations of connectivity because of its higher bandwidth and network flexibility.

Another 54 per cent pointed to the ability of 5G to connect a huge number of devices and sensors as a key strength, Sandra Ng, Vice President of IDC Asia-Pacific’s ICT practice, said the pandemic had “obviously” made the importance of network resilience very clear. She added that the top 5G use cases in Asia were the same as the rest of the world, with the biggest, unsurprisingly, being connectivity to devices, both mobile and IoT. Number two was work from home connectivity, where the value of 5G has been demonstrated during the covid crisis, while the third major use case is real-time monitoring and automation to support remote-first operations. The fourth biggest is the edge – the decentralization of data storage and applications.

Slow-fiber diet for UK customers

A survey commissioned by broadband provider Truespeed reveals that the average British person will spend the equivalent of just over three years of their life on video calls for work. According to the Lifetime of Internet survey conducted by OnePoll, checking emails amounts to a total of two years and four months over the average adult lifetime, while checking social media accounts a further three years.

The study also found that 38 per cent are already online by 8am on an average day, while 20 per cent don’t log off until after 11pm. Despite this heavy reliance on the Internet, only around a third of adults (36 per cent) enjoy a very reliable home broadband connection. Unsurprisingly, 42 per cent experience problems with their connection at least once a week. The nation is also only prepared to wait up to 23 seconds on average for something to load on the internet before losing patience.

“It’s clear that a fast and ultra-reliable broadband connection for every home is essential if we are to keep pace with people’s online needs – including working from home and leisure time,” states Evan Wienburg, CEO of Truespeed. “This should not be a postcode lottery. Ensuring everyone, regardless of their location, has access to ultrafast, full fiber, highly reliable broadband connectivity will be a national gamechanger.”

Kathmandu’s and don’ts for Nepal broadband

Nepal has several topographical and economic constraints which have impeded efforts to expand network infrastructure and improve the quality of service for end-users. The fixed line market remains underdeveloped, and as a result most traffic is channeled via mobile networks. Fixed broadband penetration remains very low, though to address this the government has initiated several programs as part of the Digital Nepal Framework and the wider Optical Fiber Backbone Network Expansion Project.

BuddeComm notes that the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Going green! Report reveals importance of 5G connectivity for a sustainable Europe

As European nations ramp up efforts to address climate change targets, research from Ericsson is claiming that the accelerated roll-out of 5G connectivity across Europe will have an immediate and catalyzing impact in reducing CO2e emissions.

The analysis suggested that implementing 5G technology across four high-emitting sectors (power, transport, manufacturing and buildings) could create between 55 and 170 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) of emissions savings per year – the same saving that would be achieved by removing over 35 million petrol cars from the EU’s roads.

“The EU and UK have set ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions that will require transformational shifts across society,” said Ericsson president and CEO Börje Ekholm. “This new analysis demonstrates that connectivity, and specifically 5G, is vital to achieving these decarbonization targets. It is difficult to see how these targets will be met unless the roll-out of digital infrastructure across Europe accelerates to match that of other leading countries and regions in the developed world.”