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Wordwelcome from our
CEOThis virtual Q4 is the 54th quarterly meeting I have attended and, whilst it will not be my last, it will be the final one for me as CEO. It has been an honor and privilege to serve the broadband industry through some very exciting times.
At the time of my first meeting, in Athens in 2006, we were known as DSL Forum and became Broadband Forum when DSL Forum joined with the IP/MPLS Forum. During my time of leadership at Broadband Forum, total fixed broadband users have risen from below 300 million to more than one billion. I have seen the broadband community become truly global, witnessed the birth of the Internet of Things and seen connectivity become considered as the essential fourth utility alongside water, gas and electricity.
We have successfully launched Open Broadband software projects, several device Certification programs and fused together Open Standards with Open Source. The Forum’s work continues to be cutting edge and groundbreaking for convergence, cloud services, service management, Wi-Fi, testing, certification and software. YANG for broadband management has become a key expertise and Wireless Wireline Convergence and SDN/NFV have become important workstreams for the Forum. Marketing has transformed from speaking at other organizations’ events in 2006 to now holding our own BASe workshops and hosting our own independent event, UFBB each year – in 2020 we held over 15 events with more than 7500 registrants.
Fixed broadband continues to play a pivotal role in our home and work lives and as we close the doors on an unprecedented year, but we can look back with pride at how the whole industry robustly combated and adjusted to the terms of the pandemic. Broadband Forum continues to act as the collective voice to influence standards and the appointment of Mike Talbert from Verizon and Weiqiang Cheng from China Mobile as new Vice Chairs in the Service Provider Action Council (SPAC) brings together the global Service Provider community. Congratulations and good luck both.
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Ken Ko back to Broadband Forum as he steps into his new role of Managing Director and Craig Thomas has been promoted to VP Strategic Marketing and Business Development. I am happy to be leaving the organization in good hands and wish Ken, Craig, John Blackford, Lincoln Lavoie, Bernd Hesse and the rest of the leadership all the very best. I know they will continue to ensure Broadband Forum remains a force in the industry and are supported by an outstanding staff, Board and Steering Committee.
I have had the privilege to work alongside a great community of people past and present during my time with the organization. The future is bright, and I’ll continue to follow the Forum with great interest and pride as it moves from strength to strength. I look forward to seeing the even greater heights Broadband Forum rises to in 2021 and beyond.
Leadership team’s collaborative approach aims to broaden visibility of all of the Forum’s work
As Ken Ko and Craig Thomas move into their new roles respectively, Ken paid homage to the 14 years of success that Robin had at Broadband Forum. Looking ahead, Ken and Craig highlighted the collaborative approach for the new leadership team that will pay dividends in the future. While Ken is responsible for the operations and technical work of the Forum, and Craig is responsible for marketing and Business Development, they will take a shared approach with regard to strategy.
Ken added: “I am quite excited by the challenges this new role provides. Craig and I are working closely with each other on strategy development and execution, with each of us bringing our complementary strengths to the table – Craig’s marketing and business development background combined with my background in technology”.
“I look forward to working with the Technical Committee across all of the Work Areas, as well as with our Open Broadband projects. We have a great support network here with the fantastic staff that keeps the Broadband Forum operating seamlessly. More than anything else, it is great to once again be working together with the phenomenal individuals that participate in the Forum.”
Learn about sponsoring a meeting
Sponsorship opportunities are available for the Forum's upcoming quarterly meetings. Sponsoring a meeting is a great way to highlight your company and exhibit your company's innovation in the broadband industry – including demonstrations or prototypes – while showing your support of the Broadband Forum. Opportunities vary and can be customized to accommodate a variety of budgets.
View our standard sponsorship packages and benefits: Sponsorship Opportunities
Contact Rhonda Heier at rheier@broadband-forum.org for more information.
Record year for open standards supports record growth in global fixed broadband subscriptions
A record year for the development of industry-wide standardized solutions and technical specifications (Open Standards), and open-source technology projects (Open Source), 2020 saw the Broadband Forum continue to support phenomenal levels of global growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers.
As an ever-greater percentage of the world’s population come online at an ever more rapid pace, the importance of standards also grows – helping developers to bring new products and technologies to market and helping service providers bring them online faster. But the speed at which standards themselves are developed needs to keep up too. That’s why the Broadband Forum has become a driving force behind the acceleration of the combined use of both Open Source technology and Open Standards.
In 2020 the Forum published 25 technical reports, 14 application notes, test plans, marketing reports and market updates and had 24 new members and observers in attendance. In an unprecedented year, it held five vBASe events virtually covering all corners of the globe, and in addition over 20 separate virtual sessions in its educational webinar series, which addressed hot topics including PON, USP, 5G and convergence. Through the Cloud CO and Connected Home initiatives, the Forum showcased the strength of the organization and signified the industry-wide support which looks set to continue growing.
“2020 has been a difficult year for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the broadband industry has risen to the challenge to address the heightened network usage,” said Broadband Forum Chairman, John Blackford. “As we look to the future, the Forum will continue to combine standards, innovation, and education to unlock the potential that broadband promises.”
New vice chairs announced as Broadband Forum strengthens the Service Provider Action Council
Two new vice chairs have been appointed to the Broadband Forum’s Service Provider Action Council (SPAC) as was announced at the industry’s leading organization’s Q4 meeting. Mike Talbert from Verizon and Weiqiang Cheng from China Mobile will help the group continue to provide critical direction on standards development and operator engagement.
Broadband Forum’s SPAC was created to ensure that Service Providers’ voice and requirements stay front and center to all broadband work, accelerating time-to-market and maintaining relevancy and value. SPAC chair Mauro Tilocca (TIM) said: “It has been a pleasure to be able to bring in two people with the level of leadership, expertise and experience Weiqiang and Mike have within their fellow Service Provider community.”
“Their input will be fundamental to the continued evolution of the Service Provider Action Council and help ensure that the work of the Broadband Forum is directly related to the real needs of Service Providers across all corners of the globe. Their global vision of our market, regional knowledge, and direction will only encourage even more Service Providers to join SPAC and drive the demands of our industry into our wider broadband industry work,” Mr Tilocca continued.
Next year, while evolving in response to a rapidly changing sector, the Council will continue to focus on providing the use cases and a common Service Provider voice that influences and drives the Broadband Forum’s Open Standards and Open Software work. Key areas of focus in 2021 will include the Connected Home, edge / core evolution, wireless and wireline convergence and the Software Defined Cloud (SDC).
Nokia demo TR-459 specified BNG Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) at Q4 meeting
Kenneth Wan and Bert Todts from Nokia showcased a demo on Broadband Forum's TR-459 specified Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) with Packet Forwarding Control Protocol (PFCP) during the Q4 meeting. The demo addresses demand placed on BNGs and the challenges in control place and user plane scaling. CUPS is a very popular topic within Broadband Forum and the demo provided answers on what CUPS is, what its benefits are, how it works, and whether PFCP really works for Fixed Wireline Access.
The presentation covered the BNG CUPs architecture as defined in TR-459, a basic introduction to the PFCP and the demo addressed the two most popular use cases of Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) and Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE). Watch the demo here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/meetings-and-events/nokia-demo-bbf-tr-459-specified-bng-cups-with-pfcp.
The Board of Directors nominations are now open
The Broadband Forum leadership elections will take place at the 2021 Q1 meeting and nominations are due by 22 January with the election voting officially opening on 25 January. There are a total of five available seats to be filled for the Board of Directors, with each term lasting for two years.
Election results will be announced in person at the 2021 Q1 annual meeting and to the general membership via email. If you have any questions regarding the election process, please contact Member Support Manager April Nowicki at anowicki@broadband-forum.org.
For more information about being considered for a seat on the Board of Directors, visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/2021+Board+of+Directors+Election.
Following the Work Area Director elections, the following appointments were completed for two-year terms commencing from 2021:
- Dave Sinicrope – ATA Work Area Director
- John Blackford – BUS Work Area Director
- Jason Walls – BUS Work Area Director
- Marta Seda – FAN Work Area Director
- Samuel Chen – FAN Work Area Director
vBASe Australia rounds off a successful year
The final quarter of the year has been extremely busy for BASe events with Broadband World Forum, vBASe North America, UFBB BASe, vBASe Australia and FTTH Council Europe. Broadband Forum rounds off a successful year of BASe with its final vBASe Australia session on December 15 in partnership with NBN.
Marking a total of 16 vBASe sessions during 2020, and with registration, on average, in excess of 400 per event and attendance of between 200-330 companies from 40-65 countries per event, the BASe series has been a triumphant success. The first-ever virtual demo video was hosted at Broadband World Forum demonstrating the evolution of its CloudCO project and gaining 320 streamed views. A panelist workshop session on the Connected Home, along with a live Q&A, was also held and attracted more than 300 live and download viewers.
vBASe North America based on the theme of “2020 Lessons, 2021 Reality” involved five vendor technology panelists and had more than 300 registrants. Impressively, vBASe UFBB saw a 300% increase of registrations compared to the 2019 meeting. The first-ever virtual UFBB 2020 was very successful and saw 18 panelist sessions on the theme of ‘The Technology Leaders’. Broadband Forum’s work has extended to all corners of the globe, with vBASe Australia sessions providing operator updates, Broadband Forum and NBN work updates and a vendor vision day.
We just want to extend our thanks to the BASe sponsors as we look ahead to an even more impressive 2021!
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Work Area Updates
For a full list of all Technical Reports approved by Broadband Forum, click here. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, so they are engaged and aware of the developments of this work. For additional insight and to get involved, sign up for the members-only Broadband Forum tools and access your member-only account using your company email address.
ATA ends 2020 by beginning new work
Target: The Access & Transport Architecture Work Area maintains primary architectural work of the Broadband Forum. This work reflects the control, management and data plane aspects of the Broadband Forum’s defined and new architectures. These architectures are augmented to leverage new industry practices, while protecting the investment in broadband networks already deployed.
Outcomes: MD-452.4 released for publication pending Board approval; WT-459.3 IPTV Multicast for DBNG started; Fixed Only Access DBNG Alternative started.
Progress:
The Performance, Experience, Application Testing (PEAT) Project Stream
Work continues on QED, specifically:
- WT-452.2 Quality Attenuation Measurements using Active Test Protocols - In progress (CONTRIB-22309)
- WT-452.3 QED Quality Attenuation Conformance Testing - In progress (CONTRIB-22147)
- MD-452.2 Use of DeltaQ to Manage Customer SLA (QED) - In progress (CONTRIB-22309)
MD452.4 QED Uses in Lab Evaluation & Network Design – was wrapped up during this meeting (CONTRIB-22449) and will be published pending Board approval to waive final ballot.
Mobile Transport and Routing
Progressed both:
- WT-521 5G Transport Networks (architecture and requirements) - In progress (CONTRIB-20551).
- WT-522 Mobile-Transport Network Slice Instance Management Interfaces (MMI) - In progress (CONTRIB-21582)
WT-522 will align with IETF work on network slicing.
DBNG
The ATA Disaggregated BNG work continued on the existing projects and the group started two new projects. Work has started on WT-459.3 IPTV Multicast for DBNG. A new project was also started on a Fixed Only Access DBNG Alternative started. The Closing Plenary announced that the ATA Disaggregated BNG work was consolidated under a new Access Architecture (AA) PS. The new PS will be reflected in Jira and the wiki pages early in 2021.
For more information on ATA Work Area’s ongoing work, visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Access+and+Transport+Architecture.
BUS continues to progress a host of work streams
The Broadband User Services (BUS) Work Area has been working closely with experts on 5G Wireline/Wireless convergence to soon release a clear set of requirements for 5G enabled residential gateways in its next issue of TR-124. In addition, Service Providers will be able to onboard, manage, monitor, and control 5G residential gateways using TR-069 and its evolution (USP/TR-369) using new elements defined in the Device:2 (TR-181) data model. Look for both of these documents by the end of the year.
The USP is constantly growing in popularity, being built on solid technology and flexible architecture. The BUS group is working with the prpl Foundation to explore how using USP can create very real, interoperable smart gateways that can provide application developers with an easy way to build new services to operate on the gateway. That work is progressing quickly, along with updated versions of USP, the OB-USP-Agent open-source reference solution, and the BBF.369 USP Agent certification program.
Publication of new and improved Common YANG models is imminent!
- Target: Specify YANG modules that are applicable to multiple Work Areas, NETCONF/YANG test plans and certification for the defined YANG modules, and maintain YANG Best Current Practices, processes, procedures and tools.
- Progress: Final Ballot ongoing for the Common YANG Modules (WT-383a3) and YANG Modules for Fiber-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) Management (WT-355a3). Accepted further improvements to WT-383 related to Quality of Service (QoS) and Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP). Accepted further improvements to WT-355 related to VDSL performance counters. Continued progress defining the Software Management YANG model.
Discussed a strategy to define a flexible device aggregation YANG model that can be used in a variety of use cases including the Persistent Management Agent Aggregator (PMAA) as defined in WT-393. There was a joint review with the SDN/NFV Work Area on YANG for NETCONF requirements for Access Nodes and Broadband Access Abstraction (WT-435), a common Remote Endpoint module and common modules for types and network map.
- Outcomes: Work will continue on Amendment 4 of WT-383 and WT-355, along with discussion on how to take in YANG modeling work related to common functions from the SDN/NFV Work Area.
The virtual Common YANG meetings allowed YANG experts to get together and continue to progress the definition of new YANG models that are to be used for efficiently managing ultrafast broadband over VDSL, FAST and Passive Optical Networks (PON).
With Final Ballot ongoing for Amendment 3 of the Common YANG Modules (WT-383a3) and YANG Modules for Fiber-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) Management (WT-355a3), the group has kicked off work on Amendment 4 of both documents.
At the core of this week’s virtual meeting lies the progress on the Software Management YANG model, which is relevant to several Work Areas and is applicable to several network elements including Fiber OLTs, Copper DPUs and CPEs.
Next to this, the group accepted further improvements to WT-383 related to QoS and ANCP, as well as improvements to WT-355 related to VDSL performance counters.
Moving forward, Common YANG is looking to adopt a more agile approach in YANG model delivery and maintenance in order to continually add value to the Forum’s published YANG model portfolio.
For an overview of the Common YANG Work Area’s current activities, please visit: Common YANG
FAN makes significant strides ahead of Q4
Target: TR-280 Issue 1 Corrigendum 1 is progressing and due to be finalized after the Q3 virtual meeting.
Progress: During the Q3 interim meetings, WT-385 Issue 2 ITU-T xPON YANG and WT-352 Inter-Channel Termination Protocol (WT-352) were being prepared for final ballot. WT-352 passed final ballot and WT-385 was going to final ballot ahead of the Q3 virtual meeting.
Outcome: WT-352 Issue 2 passed final ballot recently and WT-385 Issue 2 has been sent for final ballot.
For more on the FAN Work Area’s ongoing work, please see: Fiber Access Networks
Open Broadband
OB-BAA nears major release ahead of BBWF 2020 demonstration
The OB-BAA project team is putting the finishing touches to its fourth major release of its reference implementation of the CloudCO's BAA layer. In this release, the OB-BAA team has developed a reference implementation of Broadband Forum’s virtual ONU Management and Control interface (vOMCI) specification (WT-451) as well as the ability for access nodes to intercept and the BAA layer to redirect control and user plane packets that can be used in traffic steering and other SDN applications.
Along with OB-BAA's existing capabilities to manage access nodes, the vOMCI and control relay capabilities enable vendors to provide support for white box implementations for various types of access nodes using either standard adapters or via vendor specific adapters. This new release, with traditional and white box implementations, will be demonstrated in the Broadband Forum pavilion during the virtual Broadband World Forum 2020 in October.
Q3 sees OB-MAP and prplMesh continue collaboration
The Open Broadband – Multi Access Point (OB-MAP) project – together with prplMesh – has been further refining definition of prplMesh APIs, together with the prplMesh team. Discussions have largely centered around the API model and the TR-181 data model that would consume these APIs (either directly or through gMap).
The project continues to ensure that all physical layer technologies are supported in the context of prplMesh APIs and network topology.
In the future, OB-MAP still expects to produce vendor extensions to the IEEE 1905.1, a specification that will provide carrier-grade capabilities enhancing EasyMesh operation in operator deployments. Once these are done, the team will also deliver certification requirements for these Broadband Forum extensions that would lead to a certification program.
The Canary Release nears completion for OB-USP-Agent
Recent Accomplishments: The OB-USP-Agent project team has published the roadmap for the community to better understand the Work Area’s current state and future direction - https://github.com/BroadbandForum/obuspa/wiki/Roadmap.
Current Efforts: The Canary Release (Release 3) is nearing completion, the code has been finalized and the project team is wrapping up the last few defects ahead of the planned release date at the end of September. Release 3 focuses on providing support for MQTT and Architecture improvements to better support OpenWRT/prplWRT and RDK-based deployments.
Future Plans: Publish Release 3 and initiate the planning of Release 4.
Physical Layer Transmission publishes the G.fast performance test plan TR-380
- Target: To help service providers deploy equipment that will provide a better Quality of Experience (QoE) for their end-users.
- Progress: The Physical Layer Transmission (PHYtx) group published the next issue of the Reverse Power Feed Testing recommendation (TR-338i2) and resolved the technical comments received during the Technical Review of the 'Fiber access extension over existing copper infrastructure' (WT-419) and the G.fast certification test plan (DTP-337i3). Work on the next revision of WT-419 has been initiated.
- Outcome: DTP-337i3 and TR-419 are ready for Final Ballot.
The next issue of the 'Reverse Power Feed (RPF) test plan' (TR-338i2) has been published. The Technical Review (straw ballot) of the 'Fiber Access Extension Over Existing Copper Infrastructure' (WT-419) and the G.fast certification test plan (DTP-337i3) was finalized and the documents are prepared for Final Ballot.
WT-419 provides telecom operators with an overview of Fiber To The Extension Point (FTTep) architectures and technologies they can use to offer fiber-like speeds and experience on any existing copper infrastructure where the installation of fiber to the end-users' premises is not yet viable or economical. DTP-337i3 adds additional requirements on Dynamic Time Assignment (DTA) and SW download to the already existing Gfast certification test plan.
As copper continues to serve as a valuable asset in the fiber extension architecture, the next issue of WT-419 was started. This work will focus on:
- Addressing existing use cases (issue 1) with MoCA Access 2.5/ITU-T G.fast/ITU-T G.hn-based access technologies
- New Use Cases, including wholesale and 5G FMC
- Refinement of FTTep architecture
- Architectural, Management and Operational aspects
- Technology specific aspects of PON fiber access extension over P2MP topologies
- Appendix on FTTep using G.fastback technology
- Appendix on FTTep using G.mgfast technology
To gain further insight into what the Physical Layer Transmission Work Area is doing, visit: Physical Layer Transmission.
SDN/NFV continues to raise the bar at Q3!
- Target: To drive the migration of SDN and NFV into all aspects of broadband networks to facilitate the agile deployment of new customized distributed broadband services and applications for operators with greater operational efficiency and lower cost.
- Progress:The Cloud-based-Central Office (CloudCO) project encompasses an expanding set of deliverables addressing: Reference Architecture; Interfaces specifications; Software reference implementations; Coexistence and Migration; and exemplary implementations and testing. Some of these activities involve other Broadband Forum Work Areas and this will continue to expand.
- Outcomes:
The SDN/NFV Work Area continued to progress work on a number of specifications:
- Migration and Coexistence (WT-408) is in Final Ballot
- NETCONF Requirements for Access Nodes and Broadband Access Abstraction (WT-435) is continuing Straw Ballot comment resolution
- vOMCI for New Access Nodes (WT-451) is continuing Straw Ballot comment resolution
The group is hoping to finalize the YANG Modules for Access Network Map & Equipment Inventory (WT-454) and Interfaces Between CloudCO Functional Modules (WT-411) before sending to Straw Ballot.
A joint session with the WWC Work Area was held for WT-466 Metro Computing Network which highlights the new capabilities of edge computing and how it impacts multi-service broadband networks. The Metro Edge Computing project is re-thinking the network architectural edge and routing to extend an NFVI interconnect which may reduce Operator OAM and enable a network of edge computing islands. Work started on new project WT-477 Cloud CO Enhancement which specifies technical aspects to support disaggregated, multi-vendor interoperable white-box solutions within the Cloud-CO architectural framework.
The work group had productive discussions in joint sessions with the ATA and WWC Work Areas for Subscriber Session Steering (WT-474). With broadband networks becoming more dynamic due to SDN control and CloudCO, it is now possible to control which user plane function each individual subscriber should be connected to. This enables an operator to offer different service propositions to different customers. At the same time, user plane functions are becoming increasingly disaggregated and cloud-native, with a centralized control plane that enables additional user plane functions to manage short- or long-term changes in load. As such, WT-474 will define an architecture and interfaces to allow the access network to offer an ingress load-balancing capability towards cloud-native user plane functions.
In relation to the OB-BAA coordination and planning for Broadband World Forum, this group remains working alongside the OB-BAA project stream to plan this year’s demo which will be based on SDN/NFV application notes.
More information about the SDN/NFV Work Area can be found at: SDN and NFV.
WWC delivers initial 5G specifications at Q3
- Target: Address the needs of converged operators, which have both wireline and mobile networks deployed and are in a position to leverage all their assets with combined subscriber offerings.
- Progress: The WWC Work Area’s first set of specifications have passed Final Ballot and are available to the public. These are TR-470 5G FMC Architecture and TR-456 AGF Functional Requirements. There are two more specifications in the process of finalization for CPE and the associated management data model. These documents are the first normative specifications for the equipment that will connect wireline to the 5G core and the CPE it will serve. The Q3 meeting saw a very productive critical review of what the group intends to achieve for the next phase of the work.
- Outcomes: Complete solutions to WWC will be delivered in the Release 16 timeframe.
Work in the WWC Work Area is transitioning from completing the basic set of specifications to focusing on topics that bring more value to 5G for wireline and provide operators with increased flexibility, revenue potential and deployment options. The goal is to increase the service capabilities of the network to allow operators to fully leverage convergence of their networks while at the same time giving them more paths to transition their networks from legacy to 5G. This work will allow converged operators to provide a uniform experience to their customers irrespective of the access or appliance they are using. This will be supported by a common and streamlined back office and control plane.
Broadband Forum and 3GPP are now finalizing the myriad of technical details required to complete detailed specifications. This is in respect to CPE, network equipment and changes to the 5G core.
Broadband Forum is taking an important role in developing 5G, making recommendations for the connection points between the fixed and 5G mobile core networks in order to drive core convergence.
WWC is also working with BUS to extend the TR-181 data models for 5G to leverage TR-069/TR-369 as part of WWC. The Work Area also did a final push to get the CPE changes to a state of completion and critical review.
For more on the WWC Work Area, please see: Wireless-Wireline Convergence.
Welcome to our new and returning members!
Our Q3 meeting attracted a host of new members and saw a wealth of meeting guests attend. New members included AVSYSTEM, Bell, STL and Zoom Telephonics.
In addition, more than 28 guests attended the virtual meeting from 12 potentially new or upgrading members, including Aprecomm, AirTies, AWS, COMTREND, Communications Research Limited, Edge-corE Networks, FiberHome, H3C, Lenovo, net+, NETGEAR and Radix.
Are you interested in becoming the next member of the industry’s leading standards body in defining broadband networks? Broadband Forum membership will not only accelerate your company’s progress but enable you to become a key influencer in developing 5G, the Cloud, the Connected Home and Access Networks.
We have a range of Membership options for companies of all sizes, from startup companies to large corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Our new Regional Operator Membership category has further opened participation, take a look for further details of the access level privileges, benefits and requirements.
To learn more about the benefits of Membership, watch a video interview with Rhonda Heier, Membership Development Manager, here or email rheier@broadband-forum.org.
Broadband Forum in the news
As 5G evolves from concept to reality and promises to be a lucrative venture for operators, the need for network convergence has never been higher. A feature from Robin Mersh, CEO of Broadband Forum, highlighted the need for changes to networks to keep up with this demand in Embedded Computing Design. An interview with Mersh discussing the Forum’s migration to an open organization, the benefit of open source, the importance of Quality of Service (QoS) and Fixed-Mobile Convergence was also hosted in TeleSemana.com.
In addition, a Connected Home podcast with Telecom Reseller was recorded and published on its website. In the podcast, Mersh and Jason Walls, Co-Director of Broadband User Services Work Area, discussed the User Services Platform (USP) Agent Certification Program and how it has been designed to provide assurance and confidence for service providers and consumer electronics companies looking to generate new revenues from Internet of Things (IoT) services.
A feature article was published in The Fast Mode about how unifying open standards and open source can deliver the agile technologies that enable network transformations and the services of the future. Following the conclusion of the Connected Home webinar series, an article from Daniel Agger, Project Stream lead for Broadband User Services (BUS) Data Modeling Project Stream was hosted in VanillaPlus. The article expressed the view that service providers must first unlock a truly interoperable ecosystem for user services that vastly improves the consumer experience.
Events Calendar
Broadband Forum Meetings and BASe Events
- Q3: September 10, ‘The State of PON Applications in the MSO market’ BASe Series Webinar, Virtual
- Q3: October 13, BASe Events at BBWF, Virtual
- Q3: October 26, BASe North America, Virtual
- Q4: November 17-19, UFBB BASe, Virtual
- Q4: December 1, BASe FTTH Europe 2020, Berlin, Germany
- Q4: December 8-11, Q4 Meeting, Melbourne, Australia
- Q4: BASe Events, Melbourne, Australia, (date TBC)
Sponsorship opportunities are available for Broadband Forum’s 2020 quarterly meetings.
Sponsoring a meeting is a great way to highlight your company and exhibit your company’s innovation in the broadband industry – including demonstrations or prototypes – while showing your support of Broadband Forum. Opportunities vary and can be customized to accommodate a variety of budgets.
Please view the list of our standard sponsorship packages and benefits at: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Sponsorship+Opportunities.
If you are interested in sponsoring a meeting, please contact Rhonda Heier at rheier@broadband-forum.org.
Other dates for your diary:
- Broadband World Forum: October 13-15, 2020, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- FTTH Conference 2020: December 1-3, 2020, Berlin, Germany
- Convergence India: March 24-26, 2021, New Delhi, India
CEO
Our Spring Member Meeting saw our biggest attendance in more than 15 years, drawing 158 attendees to Mainz, Germany. We have enjoyed a very productive meeting, and continue to build on the success of 2023, with 16 new work area projects started and two new Open Broadband projects launched since our last meeting.
In Mainz, the home to the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press and no stranger to ground-breaking tech innovation, we opened the meeting with discussions on the latest significant breakthrough in tech history. Bringing together technology innovators from across the industry, our Town Hall Innovation Series explored the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in broadband networks. The BASe Technical and USP Summits took place in tandem with our member meeting and was highly attended with a host of engaging plenary sessions, roundtables, and video demonstrations. The three events amassed a total of 243 registered attendees across five days.
Thank you to all of our work area directors, project stream leaders, editors, and contributors for their continuous dedication in building universally adopted open standards and open-source software. Talking with many of the attendees, there was real energy and enthusiasm surrounding the ongoing work and direction of the Broadband Forum.
We also recognized those individuals whose service and leadership are significantly helping drive our vision of intelligent, services-led networks that prioritize user experience. Congratulations to our Distinguished Fellow, Circle of Excellence, and Outstanding Contributor award winners.
We look forward to seeing you again in Incheon, South Korea, on June 17-20.
-Craig Thomas, CEO, Broadband Forum
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Thank you to our Meeting Sponsor!
Manuel Paul, Squad Lead Network Convergence at Deutsche Telekom and President at Broadband Forum delivered a keynote presentation highlighting the importance of personalized and context-aware services and networks that adapt to customers’ future needs.
Paul talked about the need for standardization in the industry to respond to market demands of a fast-moving technical world, advised that agility and speed should not come at the cost of quality, and vocalized the importance of deployable standards. Collaboration between Standards Development Organizations was underscored as a key factor in achieving this and striking the perfect synergy between open-source software and open standards. He also talked about Deutsche Telekom’s focus to enable a better digital life for customers, the benefits of increasingly virtualized networks and cloud-based services, as well as the role that disaggregation is playing in making this all possible.
“Reliability and great customer experience is key, and the DT brand has connotations of great customer trust,” Paul stated. “Our customer complaints have shrunk by 90% over the past ten years and we remain committed in turning our customers into our fans.”
On helping develop standards within Broadband Forum, Paul said: “It is an honor to collaborate with this esteemed community of industry leaders and experts. On behalf of Deutsche Telekom, thank you for the opportunity to play our part.”
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Work Area Updates
For a full list of all Technical Reports published by Broadband Forum, click here. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, so they are engaged and aware of the developments of this work.
For additional insight and to get involved, sign up for access to Broadband Forum tools and access your account using your company email address.
ATA rounds off successful quarter with IPv6 security project and new open broadband project launched
The Access & Transport Architecture (ATA) Work Area delivers scalable, dynamic, and flexible architectures to support highly resilient connectivity for the next-generation of responsive services and applications. ATA’s focus includes specifying frameworks and real-time tools to deliver predictive connectivity and service performance. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/ata-rounds-off-successful-quarter-with-ipv6-security-project-and-new-open-broadband-projects-launched
Smart home activities grow in BUS; latest updates of TR-181 and TR-398 published
The Broadband User Services Work Area aims to explore the necessary work for delivering an operator-grade smart home and improving the subscriber experience. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/smart-home-activities-grow-in-bus-latest-updates-of-tr-181-and-tr-398-published
Common YANG’s latest work shaping the future of NETCONF/YANG-managed access networks
The work area targets to specify YANG modules that are applicable to multiple work areas, provide support to those same work areas for their specific YANG projects, and maintain YANG Best Current Practices, processes, procedures, and tools. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/common-yangs-latest-work-shaping-the-future-of-netconf-yang-managed-access-networks
FAN collaborates with other Work Areas to progress new standards; officially launches sustainability project
The Fiber Access Networks (FAN) Work Area specifies and maintains PON architecture and nodal requirements, PON abstraction and mobile backhaul requirements. It is also responsible for PON test suites related to PON conformance and interoperability, and compliance test plans related to XGS-PON, NG-PON2, 25GS, 50G-PON, and Physical Medium Dependent (PMD)/Transmission Convergence (TC) Layer. Lastly, it is responsible for PON YANG data model specifications. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/fan-collaborates-with-other-work-areas-to-progress-new-standards-officially-launches-sustainability-project
PHYtx Work Area starts the third issue of TR-301 and continues efforts of the MoCA AccessTM Performance Test Plan
The Physical Layer Transmission Work Area aims to enable multi-vendor interoperability in deployments for both access and in-premises networks. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/phytx-work-area-starts-the-third-issue-of-tr-301-and-continues-efforts-of-the-moca-accesstm-performance-test-plan
Two key documents on AIM and disaggregation published, with more specifications close to fruition for SDN/NFV
The SDN/NFV Work Area focuses on the introduction of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) in conjunction with general purpose hardware to create the basis for cloud-based, edge, and access networks. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/two-key-documents-on-aim-and-disaggregation-published-with-more-specifications-close-to-fruition-for-sdn-nfv
WWC continues Multi-tenant FWA efforts and Phase 18.1 work, IMS for 5G-RG and WWC CUPS specifications published
The work area aims to deliver more value with deployment options for integrated, wireline, and mobile operators and suppliers. It focuses on optimizing the Total Cost of Ownership by consolidating network, common control plane, and streamlined backend by a comprehensive, well-specified, deployed Wireless-Wireline-Convergence architecture and functions to deliver broadband services with the 5G Core. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/wwc-continues-multi-tenant-fwa-efforts-and-phase-18-1-work-ims-for-5g-rg-and-wwc-cups-specifications-published
OB-CAS project to stimulate open innovation for the broadband industry; calls for involvement of application providers in data analytics and network automation software
The OB-CloudCO Application Software Development Kit (OB-CAS) project is set to create a network management application ecosystem for the broadband industry. The project will develop an open platform software environment to foster open innovation. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/ob-cas-project-to-stimulate-open-innovation-for-the-broadband-industry-calls-for-involvement-of-application-providers-in-data-analytics-and-network-automation-software
The OB-STAMP project launches - a gamechanger for network monitoring
The OB-STAMP (Open Broadband – Simple Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol) tool aims to reduce the cost and time of deploying and implementing infrastructure for measuring network latency in service providers’ networks. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/the-ob-stamp-project-launches-a-gamechanger-for-network-monitoring
OB-USP-Agent closes in on Heron release; will help ISPs roll out value-added services
The OB-USP-Agent (OBUSPA) project is focused on creating a reference implementation of the User Services Platform (USP) specification from an "Agent" perspective. It aims to help ISPs offer differentiated value-added services at a faster pace, allowing individual components of the network to be upgraded without the need to upgrade the whole firmware. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/ob-usp-agent-closes-in-on-heron-release-will-help-isps-roll-out-value-added-services
OB-UDPST project team collaborates with a network operator regarding large-scale rollout
The Open Broadband-User Datagram Protocol Speed Test (OB-UDPST) project produces an open source implementation of a tool to perform IP layer capacity metrics and measurement. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/ob-udpst-project-team-collaborates-with-a-network-operator-regarding-large-scale-rollout
OB-5WWC Project Team’s 5G-RG software architecture open for comments
Open Broadband-5WWC (OB-5WWC) is an Open Source project focused on bringing the full benefits of the 5G ecosystem to fixed-line services and offering a full end-to-end solution to operators. The aim is to create a reference implementation of the Broadband Forum specified Wireless-Wireline Convergence solution for 5G capable Residential Gateways (5G-RGs), providing shorter time-to-market for products and reduced development times and cycles. Read the full Spring Meeting 2024 update here: https://www.broadband-forum.org/ob-5wwc-project-teams-5g-rg-software-architecture-open-for-comments
For more on the work of The Broadband Forum’s Work Areas, please visit the wiki here: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/BBF+Work+in+Progress+-+Projects%2C+Project+Streams%2C+and+Jira+Links
Upcoming BASe events
- ‘The Future of the Connected Home’ Omdia Survey Webinar - March 26
- BASe at OFC: Meeting Rural Broadband Needs with High Capacity PON - March 28
- PON Interoperability vBASe Webinar - April 11
- Future of PON Telco vBASe Webinar - May 9
- BASe at ANGA COM 2024 – Converging the Access to true Multi-Service Fiber – May 14 – May 16
Save the dates! Broadband Forum face-to-face 2024 meetings
- June 17-20, Summer 2024 Meeting, Incheon, South Korea
- November 18-21, Fall 2024 Meeting, the Americas (TBD)
Welcome to our new and returning members!
We welcomed a mix of new members and guest companies during the Spring Member Meeting 2024. We had 158 registered attendees, with 12 first-time attendees and 16 guests from 12 companies. Our new members include: Alethea, Evolution Digital, Go Fiber, Positron Access Solutions, Sichuan Changhong NeoNet Technologies Co., Ltd., Tadtelmax, and Veego.
Are you interested in becoming the next member of the industry’s leading standards body in defining broadband networks? Broadband Forum membership will not only accelerate your company’s progress but enable you to become a key influencer in developing 5G, the Cloud, the connected home and access networks.
We have a range of membership options for companies of all sizes, from startup companies to large corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Our new regional Operator Membership category has further opened participation; take a look for further details of the access level privileges, benefits and requirements.
To learn more about the benefits of membership, watch the video interview with Rhonda Heier, Director of Membership Development, as Rhonda discusses the value of the Broadband Forum membership here or email rheier@broadband-forum.org for more information.
Contact information
Questions or ideas? Contact the Broadband Forum at +1 510.492.4020 or email info@broadband-forum.org.
