2022.02.18 – Open Broadband News

The 1.2 version of USP makes the headlines

Broadband Forum has successfully integrated advanced capabilities from Wi-Fi Data Elements from Wi-Fi Alliance and published the next versions of the Broadband Forum suite of standards for managed services. The publication of the 1.2 version of User Services Platform (USP/TR-369), and 2.15 version of the widely adopted TR-181 Device Data Model will ensure that operators can deploy interoperable customer Wi-Fi optimization and management services and help reduce customer churn and increase Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

The new standards were developed with close collaboration amongst a cross-spectrum of operators, chipset manufacturers, vendors, and management application companies.

“Wi-Fi Alliance is delighted that Wi-Fi Data Elements will unlock more value in operator management systems through its inclusion in the latest update of the TR-181 Device Data Model and our ongoing alignment with Broadband Forum,” said Kevin Robinson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Wi-Fi Alliance. “There are now more than 250 key performance indicators offered by Wi-Fi Data Elements that operators worldwide can use to recognize and resolve network issues, in turn, helping provide a better customer experience.”

Ufispace joins the Broadband Forum fold

UfiSpace, the leading provider of open disaggregated networking solutions, has announced its participation in the Broadband Forum. UfiSpace will focus on broadband and mobile access abstraction and will be contributing its disaggregated router and switching platforms to the Broadband Forum Work Areas and interoperability labs.

“Disaggregation of telecom infrastructure is no longer just a trend, but a proven way to reduce cost and spur innovation,” says Vincent Ho, CEO of UfiSpace, “The Broadband Forum brings together the world’s foremost broadband innovators and UfiSpace is looking forward to our collaboration together to bring well-tested, ready-to-deploy, and economical solutions to service providers.”

“As operators look to fully capitalize from cloud technologies, and deliver more effective service offerings, UfiSpace played a key role in our CloudCO demonstrations last year helping to enable a truly virtualized disaggregated multi-vendor network,” Broadband Forum Managing Director Ken Ko said. “We are delighted to welcome UfiSpace into the Broadband Forum and look forward to its continued contribution in our Access and Transport Architecture Work Area and OB-BAA project.”

Cambodian regime extends online censorship

Cambodia’s National Internet Gateway has come online, exposing all traffic within the country to pervasive government surveillance.

Cambodia’s military-run regime – which is notionally democratic but holds all 125 lower house seats after banning opposition parties, will now require all internet service providers and carriers to route their traffic through the Gateway. Revocation of operating licenses or frozen bank accounts are among penalties for non-compliance. All incoming traffic to Cambodia will also be required to pass through the Gateway and be subject to censorship.

Jeff Paine, managing director of the Asia Internet Coalition, Big Tech’s regional lobby group, said the Gateway “will restrict Cambodians’ ability to access a free and open internet and greatly harm the country’s nascent digital economy.”

It is expected that the possibility of such surveillance will deter those building, or considering an engagement with, Cambodia’s small but vigorous IT services sector.

Telecoms chiefs plea for tech groups investment

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone – have issued a public appeal to the European Union, via an open letter published in the Financial Times (subscription required), for help in obtaining financial contributions from streaming media giants such as Netflix to help with their network capacity and management costs.

It’s not a new plea or a new argument, but basically the telcos are arguing that having to foot the bill for network investments by themselves, while seeing their networks put under strain from carrying third party traffic (just a few streaming, gaming and social media companies account for about 70% of the traffic that runs over the telcos’ networks, they claim) is unfair.

The investment “burden must be shared in a more proportionate way,” state the CEOs. “We now urgently call upon legislators to introduce rules at EU level to make this principle a reality,” stated the letter, which was signed by Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges, Orange’s soon-to-be-replaced chief Stéphane Richard, Telefónica head honcho José María Álvarez-Pallete, and Vodafone CEO Nick Read.

High-speed fiber boom in OECD countries 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released the latest update to its broadband portal, which demonstrates that high-speed fiber subscriptions grew by 15 percent across member countries from June 2020 to June 2021.

According to the organization, member countries use different technology mixes, but 23 of the 38 now have a higher share of fiber than copper-wire DSL in their total fixed broadband connections, up from 20 countries a year ago.

Overall, fixed broadband subscriptions in OECD countries totaled 462.5 million as of June 2021, up from 443 million a year earlier, to average 33.8 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Mobile broadband subscriptions totaled 1.67 billion as of June 2021, up from 1.57 billion a year earlier, and averaged 122 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.

EU lays out $6.8 billion toward new SatComs space race

The European Commission on Tuesday set out a 6 billion Euro ($6.8 billion) satellite communications plan, part of a push to cut the European Union’s dependence on foreign companies and protect key communications services and surveillance data against any outside interference.

The move comes amid growing concerns over Russian and Chinese military advances in outer space and a surge in satellite launches. Commercial operators such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Starlink network that aims to launch tens of thousands of satellites to supply global space-based Wi-Fi have also contributed to a fast-growing satellite population and resulting debris.

“Our new connectivity infrastructure will deliver high-speed internet access, serve as a back-up to our current internet infrastructure, increase our resilience and cyber security, and provide connectivity to the whole of Europe and Africa,” EU industry chief Thierry Breton said in a statement.