Broadband Forum brings Fiber closer to home

Ultrafast opens the door to new Broadband 20/20 services and significant revenue growth

November 23, 2015, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Bringing optical fiber speeds and applications to customers around the world became significantly more achievable for service providers this week, as the Broadband Forum completed innovative work on the management of Fiber to the Distribution Point (FTTdp).

Managing fiber-fed nodes in the periphery of the access network using advanced software-based techniques not only opens the way to ultrafast broadband services but also provides further stimulus for developing technologies such as G.fast – which achieves fiber-like speeds over shorter distances for customers connected by copper cables.

At the Broadband Forum’s quarterly meeting in Mexico, the first gathering of the Forum since the highly successful launch of its Broadband 20/20 vision, it was agreed that the FTTdp YANG management model was ready for release exclusively to members for testing in network equipment. This is the Forum’s first software project written in the YANG modelling language.

“This is great news for our members whether they be service providers, vendors or test houses,” said Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh. “By adopting YANG modelling we are in the process of moving the management of FTTdp from the drawing board into the network, helping to drive open interoperability between different devices. This means service providers can offer competitive ultrafast services such as G.fast.”

G.fast is an area of considerable activity within the Forum. Next in the series of plug-fests, the Forum’s approved test house University of New Hampshire Interoperability Labs (UNH-IOL) will stage the latest G.fast plug-fest – paving the way to the industry’s first certifications.

At the Forum’s meeting in Mexico, one of the leading lights in G.fast development, Board Member Les Brown, was presented with a Distinguished Service Award, only presented to individuals who have provided a major influence on the direction and success of broadband development. As Director of Access Standards for Huawei, Brown has more than 34 years of experience in wireline data communications technologies.

“The success of the Forum in accelerating broadband innovation would not be possible if it weren’t for the expertise and energy of its members,” said Kevin Foster, Chairman of the Broadband Forum. “When the Broadband Forum started there were less than a million broadband connections and now there are more than 750 million. This is an extraordinary achievement and one that would not be possible without the hard work and commitment of our members, like Les, on our various projects.”

The Forum’s Broadband 20/20 vision, leveraging the innovative use of NFV, SDN, ultrafast access, Internet of Things (IoT) and, when formally defined, 5G, in the home, small business and multiuser infrastructure of the broadband network, was launched globally only last month.