2022.12.02 – Open Broadband News

Improved network performance measurement and analysis enabled by Broadband Forum

Broadband network operators can now take advantage of improved performance measurement and analysis tools with the principles of quality attenuation being applied more widely to operators’ networks and at low cost by leveraging its capabilities in pre-existing equipment – for example, in CPE devices

Crucially, the TR-452.2 extension to Broadband Forum’s Quality Attenuation (QED) framework means that real-world quality attenuation testing such as proactive analysis of network performance and support for customer service troubleshooting can now be done, taking testing beyond network design and lab evaluation. This will help operators identify and resolve network faults before customers perceive any service issue, as well as enable the arrangement and delivery of new experience-specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

“In an evolving broadband market, once broadband speed stops constraining service delivery, Quality Attenuation becomes the most important metric to delivering QoE for increasingly time-sensitive applications,” said Craig Thomas, Vice President Strategic Marketing and Business Development at Broadband Forum. “A standards-driven approach is critical to how metrics are automated and continuously measured leading to zero-touch Automated Intelligent Management (AIM) tools that ensure subscriber service quality.”

You can read the rest of the press release here.

PON Technology: What lies ahead and how will it evolve?

As ongoing demand for full fiber access and connectivity inside the home continues to heighten, a seamless customer experience becomes more critical than ever. A key piece of the puzzle is how networks can continue to evolve, grow, and develop to keep up with demand and at pace.

Over the past two years, there has been a significant shift in broadband traffic. For the first time, the traffic growth rate for fixed networks has exceeded that for mobile. Fixed network traffic has grown by 42% worldwide throughout 2020, including emerging countries – a substantially higher growth than forecast before the pandemic.

While many mobile operators may argue that the introduction of 5G nationwide rollouts will buck this trend, what is most relevant is that whether you are using a mobile device or WiFi-enabled device when in the home or the office, most developed countries depend on the fixed broadband network to transport this traffic. The transport of 5G and fixed traffic will depend on the fiber access network. Progressively this will become a PON.

Read the full article from Frank Effenberger, rapporteur of ITU-T Q2/15 and Ana Pesovic, Marketing Director at Nokia here.

FCC gives internet service providers 6 months to display broadband ‘nutrition’ labels

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially approved new rules which will require internet service providers (ISPs) to display broadband “nutrition” labels that  help consumers compare and contrast various broadband plans. These uniform point-of-sale labels mimic nutrition labels at the grocery store to easily define facts about broadband services that get lost in the fine print for consumers, like pricing, data caps, speed and more for wireless and wired services.

Broadband providers will be required to prominently display their labels online for consumer review and create accessible portals on personal accounts so that customers can swiftly see the label associated with their services. These measures also require that broadband providers optimize their public-facing label data to ensure that third-party websites can easily scrape the data to compare and contrast plans for consumers easily. Most ISPs will have six months to comply with the new rules, though those with 100,000 or fewer subscribers will have up to one year.

“Broadband is an essential service, for everyone, everywhere. Because of this, consumers need to know what they are paying for, and how it compares with other service offerings,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

Network automation needed “urgently” to make telco sector viable

Automating the telco network will not only deliver benefits in tackling increasing complexity in the 5G and 6G eras. It can also ensure the whole industry remains economically viable and capable of delivering services with agility and speed, according to the heads of an ETSI group focused on zero-touch specifications.

ETSI Zero Touch Network and Service Management (ZSM) group chair and senior technology expert at Telefónica, Diego Lopez, said automation will ultimately enable superior services, developed and delivered in a more efficient way. For Telefónica, it will translate into cost reductions that will play an important role in a European market that is “fairly saturated with many, many different operators, highly regulated, with margins being reduced.”

The goal of reducing costs and keeping them under control is of high importance for the sustainability of the telco environment in general, because “being a business in which you’re not making money doesn’t make any sense,” Lopez added.

China ramps up chip investments

Chinese semiconductor manufacturers have been scrambling to build the plant and infrastructure necessary to design and fabricate their own semiconductor chips. This is in the face of the west’s growing, concerted and determined efforts to exclude Chinese companies from access to advanced design and production technology.

As a result, companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been investing heavily in new factories and it seems that such spending will continue at very high levels as the country doubles down on efforts to catch up with the US.Top of Form All indications are that Chinese chips are at least two or possibly three or four years behind microchips being produced in the US, UK, Europe, Taiwan and South Korea.

Chinese companies are striving to develop and manufacture state-of-the-art homegrown chips as western-imposed export restrictions and prohibitions bite deeper, and China tends to think and plan in generational terms: A 25-to-30 years strategy is by no means unusual. However, the general scientific consensus is that China will be self-sufficient in chip development and production within the next 10 to 15 years.

India revamps data protection bill

Having withdrawn its proposed personal data protection bill in August, the Indian government now expects to release a newly drafted bill for public comment.

It seems that, with 88 amendments suggested by a joint parliamentary committee studying the original draft – which was first presented in late 2019 – revamping the bill was seen as the only reasonable option.

India’s Economic Times says that concerns about the bill had been expressed by the non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation (a group that defends online freedom in India), which suggested that the bill gave large exemptions to government departments, prioritised the interests of big corporations, and did not adequately respect people’s fundamental right to privacy, implying a potential for mass surveillance.