2022.11.25 – Open Broadband News

APAC fixed communications service revenue expected to reach $406.2bn in 2026

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of reliable broadband and connectivity as it enabled work and study to be completed from home. Operators and governments across the world have prioritized the improvement of fixed fiber networks to provide the population with the most reliable and high-speed connectivity.

Asia Pacific (APAC), the most populous region across the globe, is making waves in the deployment of fiber networks and is one of the key global growth markets. According to Global Data’s latest Asia-Pacific Regional Fixed Communications Forecast, the total fixed communications service revenue is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 1.7% to reach $406.2 billion in 2026.

Fiber-to-the-Home/Building (FTTH/B) service is set to cement its position as the leading fixed broadband technology in the APAC market and is predicted to account for 87.6% of total fixed broadband lines in the region by 2026.

Broadband Forum is hosting its dedicated Asia and Australasia vBASe and is inviting you to be part of the discussion on the advancements in technology, specific market demands and connected subscriber service needs when delivering the future broadband experience. You can register for vBASe APAC 2022 here.

Broadband networks ‘may be wrongly valued by up to 20%’

UK broadband provider’s valuation of their networks may be off by up to 20% because they do not have the right oversight of their networks, claims software firm Digpro.

The assertion is that the telco industry’s approach to designing, building and operating a fiber network can result in ‘poorer quality’ of data being gathered, ‘because of the multiple systems that are used across the network life cycle.’ It also claims what it describes as a lack of an integrated network information system can cause delays to build and lost revenue.

The firm claims the solution is creating Digital Twins of the network. Telecoms.com summarises that digital twins are like virtual replications that act as a kind of simulation that can be fed data and modelled. It is used in various industrial settings such as factories where efficiency is a high priority.

“The traditional approach to the lifecycle management of a network is silo based,” said Digpro’s Joel Pirard. “This means different people, sometimes from different companies, are using different systems throughout the lifecycle. This process is error prone, lacks efficiency and lowers the quality of the data for every step. To avoid this, companies should embrace Digital Twin for their network. A Digital Twin creates a simulated replica of the network and can provide much of the information that investors, for example, would want to know.”

Commission approves €88.3 million Spanish Scheme under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to support connectivity in rural areas

The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, an €88.3 million Spanish scheme made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF’) to support the provision of wholesale services and retail broadband services in remote rural areas in Spain.

The measure is part of Spain’s strategy to address the needs of citizens and businesses in the context of the digitalization of the country. The scheme also contributes to the EU’s strategic objectives relating to the digital transition.

The scheme, which will run until 31 December 2027, will be partly funded via the RRF, following the Commission’s positive assessment of the Spanish Recovery and Resilience Plan (‘RRP’) and its adoption by the council. It is designed as a temporary solution to facilitate and accelerate access to performant fixed broadband services at affordable prices. The measure will support the provision of wholesale services and on that basis the provision of affordable retail broadband services at a fixed location with download speed of at least 100 Mbps and upload speed of 5 Mbps.

Integration concerns are a barrier to broad open telco infra ecosystem

Concerns among network operators about interoperability and integration is a key barrier to a significant expansion of an open telco infrastructure ecosystem. This is according to the results of a poll conducted during TelecomTV’s recent Open Telco Infra Summit.

It has long been argued by many in the industry that an enhanced ecosystem of companies developing technology and applications for open, multivendor network architectures would be a catalyst for greater innovation. TelcomTV asked, “What are the main barriers to realizing a broad and diverse open telco infrastructure ecosystem?”

Seven options were offered in the poll and respondents could vote for as many as they thought were relevant. The option ‘CSP concerns about interoperability/integration’ attracted the most votes, cited by 58% of those who voted. This concern was reflected in the roundtable discussions and audience questions throughout the two-day event.

Watch Now! Broadband Forum’s CloudCO Demo 2022

With the increasing adoption of software defined access networks, the separation of control and data planes is driving an increasing need for the virtualization and disaggregation of operator’s networks and functions.

Visit Broadband Forum’s YouTube channel as Ken Pyle meets Lincoln Lavoie, Technical Committee Chair at Broadband Forum and Ken Ko, Managing Director at Broadband Forum to discuss this year’s CloudCO demonstration. Watch it now.

Learn More! Omdia’s Fiber Development Index

A summary version of the Fiber Development Index is now available to members of the Broadband Forum.

Omdia’s Fiber Development Index tracks and benchmarks the fiber development across 88 countries. Unlike other fiber benchmarks that largely track coverage or household penetration, as fiber investment is vital to the quality delivery of all data services, Omdia’s benchmark takes into account a much wider set of metrics. This includes fiber household coverage, household penetration, business penetration, mobile cell site fiber penetration, backbone investment, average download and upload speeds, jitter, and latency. Find out more.