2023.03.24 – Open Broadband News

Broadband Forum recognizes the leaders and key contributors driving pivotal work in the industry

Broadband Forum’s Q1 meeting has taken place this week in Dallas, Texas, and has recognized individuals across the industry who have gone above and beyond to help drive future broadband standards development.

The 2023 Distinguished Fellow award was bestowed upon Joey Boyd, Adtran, and William Lupton, Broadband Forum. This award is given to those who are committed to delivering a distinguished service and show leadership in the advancement of the broadband networking industry, inspiring industry growth.

Samuel Chen of Broadcom received the Leadership award for his leadership in the Fiber Access Networks (FAN) Work Area over the last several years. Over the course of his work in FAN, Sam has been instrumental in the design and development of PON requirements (in key documents including TR-280 ITU-T PON requirements, TR-142 Framework for CWMP and USP enabled PON Devices) and the BBF.247 GPON ONU Certification Program.

Broadband Forum congratulates all the recipients of the awards and those nominated. The ongoing dedication from these individuals continues to shape the future of broadband.

Read the full press release here.

Operators looking to employ CPE with intelligent services and applications for future growth

According to Broadband Forum Managing Director Ken Ko, Smarter Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), which enables operators to offer customized offerings with the touch of a button, is essential for operators in order to secure new revenue and reverse declining ARPU rates.

Ko urged service providers to invest in devices with built-in application intelligence, creating an app store-like experience for their customers as traditional revenue streams such as fixed voice and IPTV are declining. Doing so will enable them to reach multiple market segments like teleworkers, security, home automation, and Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality while having fewer product stock-keeping units (SKUs) to manage during deployments.

Ko commented, “Operators know they need to move from simply being connectivity providers, but how they do that has, until now, remained elusive.” According to Ko, as consumer demand continues to grow for innovative services and network quality, operators should now focus on offering improved options and enhanced user experiences if they wish to expand their revenue streams. An app-enabled portal for services can accomplish this by granting users access to individual bandwidth or application-specific latency at the touch of a button.

Chile’s fixed internet fixed accesses totaled 4.4 million in 2022

Chile had over 2 million 5G lines at the end of 2022, just over a year after the technology was launched in the country.

Fixed internet accesses totaled 4.46mn as of December 2022, up 4% from a year earlier, reaching 62.6% of households in the region. Most of the connections were fiber optic (66%) with 2.9mn, followed by hybrid fiber and cable (HFC) networks with 29.3% and 1.3mn. ADSL copper connections represented 1.7% while other technologies, including satellite connections, accounted for 3%.

Fixed telephony accesses have been on a downward trend since 2016 and dropped 11.7% last year. This reduction has been partially cushioned by the bundling of services.

89% of US internet users have reliable access

Two things are clear in an internet satisfaction report commissioned by Amdocs and conducted by researchers at Dynata: Broadband generally is working well and many see it as a necessity.

The survey found that 89% of respondents said they have reliable access and that the number of homes with more than nine connected devices has almost doubled since 2021. Only 13% of homes with annual incomes of less than $50,000 per year – which the graphic refers to as “low-income” – have more than nine connected devices. Forty-one percent of households with incomes of more than $150,000 have more than nine.

Amdocs and Dynata found that 84% of respondents consider Internet access a necessity, though only 79% of Gen-Zers share that opinion. Sixty-one percent reported that they felt it is important to close the digital divide before the 2024 election: Twenty-six felt it is extremely important do so, 35% felt it is somewhat important, 26% were unsure, 9% felt it is not important and 4% felt it is “very unimportant.” There was no unanimity on who should be responsible for closing the gap.

“We’ve long recognized that a lack of connectivity is a significant problem, but in today’s world, access has become non-negotiable,” Anthony Goonetilleke, Amdocs’ Group President of Technology and Head of Strategy, said. “Failing to ensure universal connectivity only serves to exacerbate the digital divide, leaving those on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder at an even greater disadvantage in their personal, professional, and academic pursuits. Given the role that technology and connectivity play in driving the global economy, it’s our collective responsibility to remain persistent in our efforts to close this gap.”

India drops two spots in global fixed speed ranking in February 2023

Ookla, a network intelligence and insights company, has released its latest Speedtest Global Index report for February 2023. According to Ookla global Speedtest index report, India’s median fixed broadband speeds ranking slipped by two positions from 79th in January to 81st in February 2023.

Despite this, India experienced a slight improvement in its fixed median download speeds, which rose from 50.02 Mbps in January to 50.87 Mbps in February 2023. However, the country jumped two spot ranks in Median Mobile Download Speeds globally from 69th position to 67th position.

The February Speedtest Global Index reports, in terms of fixed broadband download speeds, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines rose by 12 spots in rank globally, while Singapore retained its Number 1 spot in the month.