28.06.2019 – Open Broadband News

Broadband Forum’s 2019 Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar raises bar for tech events in Europe!

The Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe) was a great success, establishing itself as Europe’s most important broadband access event. An event created by technology innovators for technology leaders who were looking for actionable solutions that will take connectivity in Europe to a new level, UFBB BASe tapped into a real need among tech-savvy broadband leaders with double digit growth this year.

Led by Broadband Forum for the first time this year, the three-day event in Den Haag, the Netherlands, gave exclusive insight into the future of the broadband ecosystem, addressing some of the most pressing issues in the broadband industry. These included the latest advancements in copper and fiber access, including discussion on the importance of Quality of Experience (QoE) and interoperability, the evolution of 5G, advice on mastering the Connected Home and the latest developments in CloudCO.

“The quality of our speakers, agenda, and laser focus on actionable content for our tech-savvy participants brought in a record number of UFBB BASe attendees who appreciated the wealth of up-to-date insights from industry experts,” said Bernd Hesse, BASe Chair at Broadband Forum. “Produced in conjunction with TNO but enhanced by Broadband Forum’s deep industry expertise, this combination enriched UFBB BASe and took the conference to a new level. It brought together stellar speakers with technology deep dives, best practices for broadband deployment and presented a 360-degree view of the broadband ecosystem driving Europe’s next-generation networks and the innovations needed to meet consumer connectivity demands of tomorrow. UFBB BASe has proven itself to be an event like no other – providing tech leaders in Europe with the knowledge they need to shape the future of broadband and connectivity.”

EU-phoria as new regulations to boost 5G rollout are approved

The EU has approved the new European Electronic Communications Code (ECC), claiming the measures included will enhance roll out of 5G and other next-generation network technologies.

The ECC promises the availability of 5G spectrum by the end of 2020 and by giving operators certainty with 20-year licensing. It also relaxes rules of the co-investment in fixed infrastructure and extends consumer protections to all forms of communications technology.

There are also provisions for security, accessibility and affordability, as well as the promise of more transparent tariffs and easier network switching. Finally, international calls will not cost more than 19 cents per minute within the EU.

Critics argue the changes are a political compromise that will do nothing to promote investment and will subject European operators to strict regulations. Meanwhile some analysts believe the additional price regulations appeared to contradict the goals of the EU by adding more rules.

I tele you what! Telecom Italia in talks with Open Fiber to create broadband giant

Telecom Italia has kicked off negotiations with Open Fiber about combining fiber assets to create a nationwide broadband network in Italy.

A tie-up could speed up the rollout of fiber networks and address government concern about Italy’s broadband lag: Data shared by the FTTH Council, an industry association, shows that Italy trails most other European countries on the take-up of full-fiber services, with penetration at around 5%.

“The objective of the discussions is to verify the feasibility of such operation, the related procedures and the perimeter of activity subject to a possible agreement, based on the will of the parties and on the legislative and regulatory frameworks,” said Telecom Italia in a statement published on its website.

Italian authorities are understood to be in favor of a tie-up and have built up a stake of around 10% in Telecom Italia through CDP, which is now the operator’s second-biggest shareholder behind French media giant Vivendi.

The fast and the fibrous – 200 Kazakhstan villages get connected to high-speed broadband

More than 200 remote villages in Kazakhstan will receive broadband internet connection by September 1, reported the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry press service.

Fiber optic line construction in villages in the Kyzylorda, Pavlodar, Turkestan and Zhambyl regions will be completed in three months, giving 201 communities access to broadband internet. In particular, 223 schools, 191 hospitals and 117 akimats (administrations) will be connected.

The project is being completed within the Digital Kazakhstan state program, with the aim of providing villages with high-quality Internet connections. The list of priority areas is based on how remote the village is from the district center and whether it has at least 500 residents and educational and medical organizations.

3,718 state bodies and state organizations (hospitals, schools, local executive bodies, emergency services, defense facilities and law enforcement agencies) will have access to high-speed internet. The project was launched in 2018 and communication services were provided to 177 government agencies by the end of that year.

Orange “raises eyebrows” at UFBB BASe

Talking at Broadband Forum’s Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe) event, Christian Gacon, Orange’s VP of Wireline Networks and Infrastructure, noted the operator’s progress to date with its GPON-based FTTH deployments in multiple countries.

Now Orange is looking at how and when it will upgrade its fiber access networks to 10G PON to support the still growing volumes of traffic running over its networks and support its 5G “anyhaul” requirements.

The company said it is preparing to deploy XGS-PON as its next step, but in what appears to be a rather controversial way.

The Orange exec noted that the current plan is to migrate from GPON to XGS-PON by deploying what are known as ‘combo cards’ –  line cards that enable both technologies on the same blade and which can be used in existing physical (optical line terminal) chassis. This would avoid the need for forklift upgrades or costly changes to the access network architecture, much more affordable.

That is a somewhat controversial move: Such combo cards have already been developed for and deployed by the operators in China and, as a result, are already available from Chinese vendors (Huawei and ZTE). “The combo cards are economic… it is the best option where you already have a network in place,” noted the Orange executive.

Gacon was questioned from members of the audience, wanting to know why combo cards make more sense than a ‘co-existence’ strategy of deploying GPON and XGS-PON side-by-side: the co-existence option was the one that offered the more suitable technical long-term strategy however is “too expensive”.

Orange won’t be testing XGS-PON multi-vendor OLT/ONT combinations until Broadband Forum’s XGS-PON certification is available – currently schedules for Q3 2019.

A Series of Fortunate Events – by Broadband Forum

The Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe) has concluded in Den Haag, Netherlands. Thank you to all those that attended and made it such a memorable event!

Broadband Forum will host the 4th XGS-PON Interoperability Test Event with FSAN (Full Service Access Network), from 8-12 July at the LAN labs in Tauxigny, France. To register for the event, please click here – https://www.lanpark.eu/GPON2/registration.php.

We will also be at the Amsterdam RAI, on 15-17 October, at Broadband World Forum, as the global communications’ industry’s biggest event returns after two successful years in Berlin. The event annually welcomes over 4,000 attendees from around the world and is the perfect opportunity to connect with the entire fixed network ecosystem with a large floorspace and three days of curated content.

We Want You for the 2019 BBWF internet Pavilion Demo! The SDN/NFV Work Area is looking for vendor and operator participation in developing and executing the CloudCO Demo, following the success of the OB-BAA demo last year which gained very high industry visibility. If you would like to be involved in pulling together this project, we need your confirmation by July 1. A demo planning webinar will be hosted on by Broadband Forum on July 8. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Tim Carey (timothy.carey@nokia.com).