2023.03.17- Open Broadband News

Operators keen to harness CPE with intelligent services and applications for future growth

Smarter Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) that drives an “à la carte” and differentiated service offering at the touch of a button will be essential for operators to secure new revenue opportunities and reverse declining ARPU, according to Broadband Forum Managing Director Ken Ko.

With traditional revenue streams, such as fixed voice and IPTV, decreasing, Ko called for service providers to invest in devices with application intelligence built in to create an app-store-like experience for consumers. This will allow the industry to cater to multiple markets segments, such as teleworkers, e-health, security, home automation, and Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality, while maintaining fewer product SKUs in their deployments.

“Operators know they need to move from simply being connectivity providers, but how they do that has, until now, remained elusive,” said Ko. “As consumer demand for network quality and innovative services continues to grow, it is now clear that if operators are to grow their revenue streams, their focus should be on delivering more choices and an enhanced user experience. An app-enabled services gateway will achieve this, giving the capability to cater for individual bandwidth, application-aware latency, and service requests at the touch of a button.”

Read the full press release here.

Broadband Forum updates UDP Speed Test

Broadband Forum has released the next update of its User Datagram Protocol (UDP)-based Speed Test (UDPST) utility, a development that will help broadband operators deploy new gigabit services and offer better connectivity with low latency and faster speeds.

The updated UDPST performs the tests defined in TR-471 Issue 3 ‘Maximum IP-Layer Capacity Metric, Related Metrics, and Measurements’, to quantify and verify broadband networks in instances where consistent low latency is just as critical as speed.

“Our open source implementation provides an approach to Internet access measurement with demonstratable accuracy and is an integral part of Broadband Forum specifications,” said Al Morton, AT&T and OB-UDPST project co-leader and TR-471 Editor. “The TR-471 specification was harmonized and developed in coordination with other standards organizations, including ITU-T, IETF and ETSI-STQ/Mobile. UDP is a critical communication protocol for time-sensitive transmissions on the Internet, and the UDPST measurements provide consumer confidence in their service’s support of applications that use UDP.”

Latest 5G standards allow operators’ converged networks to thrive

The convergence of wireless and wireline networks will provide a consistent 5G experience no matter how consumers are connected, delivering on the technology’s many promises – from better and differentiated Quality of Experience (QoE) to advances in the IoT and AI fields. In 2023, fixed and mobile networks are continuing to converge and with operators investing heavily into network upgrades, there is a crucial need for a common, converged core infrastructure. Comprehensive standards are the foundation for the industry to fully capitalize on the benefits offered by 5G Convergence.

Broadband Forum’s Wireless-Wireline Convergence (WWC) Work Area, in fruitful collaboration with 3GPP, has done the groundwork specifying the connection points between wireline broadband and 5G core networks. Addressing the needs of operators so they could leverage their assets with combined subscriber offerings with a converged core, Broadband Forum’s specifications released with 3GPP Release 16 have advanced this mission significantly. Good news for the industry is that Broadband Forum continues its specification work in partnership with 3GPP to unlock the full potential of 5G convergence.

Read the latest editorial article from Christele Bouchat and Manuel Paul, Work Area Directors of the Wireless-Wireline Convergence Work Area at Broadband Forum in RCR Wireless here.

Forecast: Global fixed broadband subs to reach 1.6 billion by 2030

Point Topic has updated its forecasts of fixed broadband take-up for 96 markets to the end of 2030. The forecasts are based on its quarterly broadband take-up data up to Q2 2022 and include both residential and business connections.

Point Topic forecasts that by the end of 2030, there will be more than 1.595 billion fixed broadband subscribers across the globe. This is a slight increase from 1.55 billion it predicted in its forecast published in October 2021. Between mid-2022 and end-2030, global fixed broadband subscribers will grow by 18 percent.

At the regional level, the advanced, mature economies of Western Europe and North America will see the slowest growth, at 7 percent and 9 percent respectively. On the other hand, fixed broadband take-up in the Middle East & Africa and in Latin America will grow at significant rates (53 percent and 33 percent respectively).

In terms of the absolute figures, South and East Asia will continue to have by far the highest number of fixed broadband subscribers by the end of 2030, at 730 million. China will remain the largest market in the region, although the growth there will slow down significantly, given already high household penetration.

FCC awards $66M to promote Affordable Connectivity Program

The FCC awarded $66 million in funding to 197 community and government organizations to promote enrolment in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) – which reportedly is being used by only 25% of eligible households.

The ACP provides a $30 discount towards Internet service to eligible low-income participants. The discount is $75 on Tribal lands. Those discounts can combine with targeted service provider offers to make service free. Participants can get one-time discounts of as much as $100 toward a laptop or desktop computer or tablet if they contribute between $10 and $50 toward the purchase.

In November, the FCC announced four grant programs aimed at spurring awareness of and enrolment in the ACP. The awards announced are from two of the four programs — $60 million from the National Competitive Outreach Program and $6 million from the Tribal Competitive Outreach Program.

“For many households, the cost of groceries, gas and rent can eat up the monthly budget, putting internet access out of reach,” Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “The Affordable Connectivity Program is the nation’s largest-ever broadband affordability effort, supporting internet connections in more than 16 million households.”