THE BROADBAND FORUM ENDS THE YEAR STRONG AND LOOKS FORWARD TO A MILESTONE YEAR AHEAD

Approving 31 technical reports, expanding Certification options to include G-PON and TR-069 conformance, and advancing network architecture work towards FMC are among the annual highlights as the Forum honors two members with Distinguished Fellow awards at the Osaka meeting 18 December 2012, Fremont California: Gathering in Osaka for the final quarterly meeting of 2012, the Broadband Forum reflects on a dynamic year, celebrating the remarkable body of work that the Forum has again achieved. Annual highlights include the creation of 31 technical reports, the launch of the BBF.069 CPE Certification program and recognition of the first BBF.069 certified products, the new G-PON Certification successes and the advancement of the Broadband Forum’s end-to-end multiservice architecture specifications. Key technology experts from the Broadband Forum’s member organizations attended the quarterly meeting, representing many of the world’s leading Telco and Cable service providers, equipment manufacturers, chip vendors and other key organizations. “Each year I am amazed at the volume and quality of work we are able to deliver from each of our working groups,” said Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum. “Our members work extremely hard and their enthusiasm and commitment is exemplary – it is their contribution which is driving forward a whole host of initiatives that will make broadband even better and the adoption of new technologies even faster.” BBF.069 CPE Certification takes off 2012 will be remembered in the industry for the key advances in TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol, the Broadband Forum’s globally adopted protocol and key enabler for the digital home. An Ovum Connected Home report, published in June, identified over 147M TR-069 managed devices by the end of 2011, which is set to soar following the launch of Broadband Forum’s BBF.069 CPE Certification Program and the announcement of the first devices to achieve Certification. The first companies with products to achieve certification are Broadcom, Cisco, D-Link, Huawei and Lantiq - all received certificates at a celebratory reception in Osaka, which was held in their honor, for this great achievement. Furthermore, the ITU-T’s recent approval of G.9980 and official recommendation of TR-069 cements TR-069 as THE remote management protocol in the global broadband industry’s toolbox. Malcolm Johnson, Director Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU said: “ITU welcomes the Broadband Forum's initiative to contribute its TR-069 management protocol for inclusion within an international ITU-T Recommendation. I believe this will strongly promote the availability of the standard and help operators to manage the wide range of devices on their networks and help to shape today’s broadband landscape.” Ending the year with great fanfare, the Broadband Forum was honored to be the first industry body to win the new Outstanding Contribution to Broadband Success award at the Broadband World Forum InfoVision Awards. This award was won in recognition of the global impact of the TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol. New mobile backhaul and multi-service requirements drive the development of a host of new network specifications Highlights of the year include the launch of the Forum’s latest release - BroadbandSuiteTM 6.0: 4G/LTE Ready Mobile Backhaul which addresses advanced mobile network requirements with specifications, test plans and best practice documentation. TR-223: “Requirements for MPLS over Aggregated Interfaces (MPLSoAI)” was approved and brings MPLS into the access aggregation space. The end-to-end architecture work progressed towards the goal of establishing a single converged network capable of ensuring quality multiservice delivery as well as ensuring compatibility and interworking for the next generation FMC network. The latest publications include: x TR-145: Multi-service Broadband Network Functional Modules and Architecture x TR-203: Interworking between Next Generation Fixed and 3GPP Wireless Networks x TR-242: IPv6 Transition Mechanisms for Broadband Networks x TR-254: Functionality Tests for Ethernet Based Access Nodes x TR-134: Broadband Policy Control Framework (BPCF)Chartered to drive medium to long term innovation in broadband, the Broadband Forum launched this year a new working group called SIMR – Service Innovation and Market Requirements. With a focus on the early identification and addressing of future business requirements, as well as potential enablers and disruptors, the Forum is committed to driving interoperability and expediting the next wave of innovation in the broadband industry. Work has already started on assessing the impact of Cloud, Virtualization and Software Defined Networks (SDN) on broadband deployments. Serving as the unified voice of the broadband industry, the Broadband Forum developed further technical input to the European Union’s code of conduct governing broadband energy efficiency targets. The Forum also initiated new work in the area of energy efficient MPLS mobile backhaul. The suite of DSL Quality Management (DQM) specifications are making quite an impact on measurement and provisioning practices worldwide. And building on that ONM theme, a key piece of work that is getting growing attention from operators and regulators is the Access Service Performance Metrics (WT-304), which will specify a test architecture and framework to enable standards-based broadband performance measurements. Forum honors its own Without amazing leadership and industry expertise, none of the Broadband Forum work would be possible. In Osaka, three awards were given to outstanding individuals. First congratulations go out to Yves Hertoghs from Cisco Systems, who was inducted into the Circle of Excellence for his ongoing contributions to the architecture work of the Broadband Forum. In the past 7 years, Yves has been a key contributor to TR-101 and TR-144, and as an editor he has played a pivotal role in getting TR-145 finalized. His continued support helps to drive discussions on future multi-service network architectures. Two long-serving members of the Broadband Forum, Andrew G. Malis of Verizon and AT&T’s Tom Anschutz, were recognized with Distinguished Fellow Awards, the Forum’s highest accolade. Andrew was recognized as one of the founding members and drivers, and later Chairman and President, of the IP/MPLS Forum (which is now part of the Broadband Forum) and for his contributions to the Frame Relay and ATM Forums. He serves today as a Vice President on the Broadband Forum Board. Tom is a distinguished network architect who has participated in the Forum from 2003 through 2012. Previously inducted into the Circle of Excellence for his work, he served as editor for TR-059 and TR-156, and has been a major contributor to TR-134, TR-101, WT-102, WT-081 and WT-178.“With gratitude to our members for their continued support, we celebrate this year of accomplishments, and look forward with anticipation of the challenges that 2013 will bring. From FTTdp to Network Enhanced Residential Gateways, Policy Convergence to Multi-service Architecture and Nodal Requirements - next year is already loaded with essential industry initiatives,” adds Tom Starr, Chairman of the Broadband Forum. With planning for the next wave of innovation in place, the Broadband Forum is continuing to provide early migration solutions and is committed to driving day-one interoperability of new technologies and services - proactively removing obstacles to new service provider offerings and deployments, while improving broadband customer experience. First tier telecomm accessories supply This white paper originally published here

The future of fiber is copper

For at least a couple of decades now, fiber has always been envisioned as the ultimate broadband access technology. It's only become economically viable as a last-mile option in the last five years or so, but nowadays FTTx is the fastest growing fixed-broadband access technology, according to Point Topic, as well as the most talked about - especially now that the data exaflood is on the way, generated by high-def 3D video and other bandwidth-hungry data apps and services. Meanwhile, just about every government-spawned national broadband plan either specifies FTTH as the preferred access technology, or is designed to encourage its deployment. Little wonder the future is fiber. Unless it isn't. And it might not be, according to a September Analysys Mason report that advises telcos to be cautious of fiber and focus on copper-based broadband. "FTTH is often said to be 'future-proof', but the future appears to have veered off in a different direction," says report author and Analysys Mason principal analyst Rupert Wood. Specifically, he says, while FTTH delivers super-fast data speeds, it lacks the kind of sexy service innovation seen in the wireless broadband space. "The vague promise of future services may appeal to some early FTTH adopters, but will become increasingly ineffective as a selling point unless the rate of innovation in devices and services that are uniquely suitable for FTTH gets some new impetus from vendors and service providers," Wood insists. "The future cannot be simply plotted against increasing fixed-line bandwidth." Meanwhile, government-funded broadband initiatives focused on fiber face budget issues in these economically uncertain times. Witness the debate in Australia where the NBN plan went from a wireless-based plan to a fiber-based plan as a result of the Labor Party winning the 2007 elections - and threatened to switch back this year if the Liberal/National Coalition won this year's elections due to concerns over the project's A$43 billion price tag. The Analysys Mason report doesn't recommend that telcos abandon FTTH, but does advise them to focus more on copper-based broadband technologies like VDSL. "Conditions vary between markets, but in general the business case [for FTTH] to move much beyond trials just isn't there and we are already beginning to see some scale-back," explains Wood.John C. Tanner | October 14, 2010 Specialize in xDSL filter/Splitter, Cables & IT relative accessories Original Article right here

China's Internet users breach half billion mark

Beijing tightens controls over popular microblogs Jan 11 (Reuters) - The number of Internet users in China have crossed the half billion mark, reaching 505 million users at the end of November last year, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported. The Internet penetration rate stood at 37.7 percent, up 3.4 percent over the end of 2010, CNNIC said in a report released late last month. This compares with Internet penetration rates of more than 70 percent for China's more technologically advanced East Asian neighbours, Japan and South Korea. At the end of November, the number of microblog users exceeded 300 million, jumping from 195 million at the end of June, a CNNIC report released on Wednesday said, according to the official Xinhua News agency. In December, the Beijing city government said it would tighten control over popular microblogs that have vexed authorities with their rapid dissemination of news, giving users three months to register with their real names or face legal consequences. Sina Corp, the dominant force in China's microblogging, or Weibo, scene, is said to be contemplating the ways it can implement this rule in order to verify users' identities.SHANGHAI | Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:22am EST Specialize in xDSL filter/Splitter, Cables & IT relative accessories Original Article right here