Articles

RSS

The future of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), the role of Internet Protocol (IP) v6, fibre architecture work and the successful deployment of IPTV over DSL were topics high on the agenda at the very first meeting of the Broadband Forum, formerly the DSL Forum.

Held in Stockholm, Sweden, the meeting got underway with an interactive panel entitled, "Driving a Converged Broadband Network." The session included a panel discussion between 3GPP, the WiMAX Forum, the Broadband Forum and Ericsson – the first time these three key industry consortiums had met to debate the future of FMC and how they can work together, utilising the expertise of each group to achieve their aims, which include driving common management and architecture specifications to support the growth of wireless broadband network options and provisioning and remote management of mobile broadband services and devices.

The Forum's meeting also included a powerful keynote speech by Regina Donato Lundgren, Vice President and Head of IP Production at TeliaSonera. Responsible for the development lifecycle, network planning, build out and operations of the company's IP networks across Europe, Regina confirmed TeliaSonera's commitment to working alongside the Broadband Forum in the development of broadband standards.

"TeliaSonera has great expectations of the Broadband Forum, which includes working together to ensure quality assurance, reliability and service management standards are met." said Lundgren.

Although this meeting of the newly named Forum concentrated very much on new, emerging and converging technologies, work with DSL continues. A recent report from industry analysts Point Topic, showed that DSL remains the most popular access technology, with over 65 percent of the market share and nearly nine million additional subscribers added in the last quarter alone. Fibre installations also increased by nearly 7 percent over the last three months.

The recent global economic downturn has seen more service providers focusing on utilising and expanding existing DSL networks, delaying the installation of planned fibre systems. As such, the Broadband Forum's work around ADSL2/2plus and VDSL2 is as important as its work with FMC and other emerging technologies. This was demonstrated in the approval of Technical Report 176 (TR-176) "ADSL2plus Profiles for IPTV".

Helping providers ensure Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) for IPTV services, this report contains best practices and recommended ADSL2plus profile parameter settings for use in the deployment of IPTV over ADSL2plus. The parameter values were derived from the experiences of service providers and vendors who have already tested, trialled and/or deployed IPTV over ADSL2plus and hence represent current industry best practice.

"Our work continues to evolve as the industry around us changes. Our main priority is to provide workable network, access and management solutions and standards that answer real world problems," explains George Dobrowski, Broadband Forum Chairman and President. "Our next big challenge, FMC is driving a lot of new work and industry collaboration, and we will do our part to ensure wireline providers are equipped for this next wave of broadband expansion."

The next meeting is scheduled for November 17th – 20th in Waikoloa, Hawaii. For further information, please go to http://www.broadband-forum.org/about/join.php or contact Laurie Gonzalez at laurie@broadband-forum.org

About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of broadband. Focused on home-to-core network and management solutions, our standards empower providers to achieve more with their broadband deployment. Established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum and later as the DSL Forum, the Broadband Forum has seen its work over the past 14 years evolve from addressing physical layer ADSL transport specifications to advanced transport and management specifications for all forms of broadband. The Broadband Forum's formal BroadbandSuite Release Program and all technical reports are publicly available at www.broadband-forum.org

SOURCE: Fixed Mobile Convergence.