Broadband bodies co-operate on future capabilities
July 19, 2023
By Colin Mann
Trade bodies the Broadband Forum and the Fiber Broadband Association have signed an agreement in principle to advance the industry forward with future-proof, high-capacity, low latency fibre broadband capabilities that will enable the Metaverse and beyond.
With a common focus on developing and educating the broadband industry on best practices, the agreement will combine the Fiber Broadband Association’s strong background and expertise in fibre advocacy, research, education, and member and community resources with Broadband Forum’s technical strengths in best practices, interoperability, certification, and standards.
Broadband Forum will leverage the new relationship by increasing awareness of its progress in technology, standards and certification work. It will also increase awareness and education amongst Tier 1, 2, and 3 operators and vendors of its mission to advance broadband innovation and the benefits of interoperability.
The agreement will give the Fiber Broadband Association’s Technology Committee leadership team increased visibility of Broadband Forum’s work across all areas of fibre broadband service delivery from inside the building, across the fibre access network to the cloud. It will also give the Fiber Broadband Association the opportunity to contribute to current and future specification work and represent the needs of fibre broadband providers within the Broadband Forum community in the Americas. The Broadband Forum has held technical pre-conference workshops at the past two Fiber Broadband Association Fiber Connect annual conferences and will become a more integral part of the conference.
“We are pleased to sign an agreement in principle with the Fiber Broadband Association and we look forward to its members’ engagement and contributions,” said Ken Ko, Managing Director at Broadband Forum. “The largest operators have traditionally contributed the most to industry standards, but now, operators of all sizes have a level playing field. The Fiber Broadband Association represents the full fibre ecosystem with 51 per cent of its members being network operators and the other half representing the supply side of the industry, with the fibre manufacturers, equipment vendors, engineering consultants and deployment specialists, so its value cannot be overstated.”
“In an effort to achieve true progress, we recognise it takes a collaborative engagement across the entire broadband industry and that is why we have formed alliances with some of the most impactful broadband organisations across the globe,” added Gary Bolton, President and CEO at the Fiber Broadband Association. “Our agreement with Broadband Forum is an exciting next step in our journey to advance fibre deployments across the Americas and finally connect every community to standardised, ubiquitous, high-speed broadband services.”