Focus on next-generation networks fuels Broadband Forum membership growth

FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pioneering development work in 5G, CloudCO and network virtualization was today cited by Kevin Foster, Chairman of the Broadband Forum as one of the key reasons for its growth in 2017, with the announcement of a further 14 new members.

Operators and vendors, as well as fellow industry bodies and national associations, are among the new sign-ups, demonstrating the breadth and relevance of the Forum's work across the whole broadband industry.

"This year has seen a significant increase in membership which reflects the growing role of fixed networks in emerging technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things, leading to a movement towards a more holistic converged network," said Foster. "These are key areas of focus for us, along with bringing greater efficiency to operators' networks through virtualization technologies which can also enable new business opportunities."

Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum, said: "With further work planned for 5G, Cloud CO, Smart Home (including In-home networking), new access technologies, and plugfests in areas including Gfast and NG-PON and the continuation of our hugely successful Broadband Access Summit Events, 2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Forum."

The list of new members joining the Broadband Forum recently is as follows: Bifrost Communications, The Broadband Communications Chamber of Ghana, Casa Systems, Chengdu Superxon Communication Technology, Dual Beam Merger Ingenieros, Hisense Broadband, InCoax Networks AB, Kurth Electronics, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA®), Octoscope, Outsys, PIC Advanced SA, Samsung Electronics and Telkom Indonesia.

"We see joining the Broadband Forum as a critical move in our quest to increase broadband penetration in Ghana," said Gustav Tamakloe, Chief Executive Officer of the Broadband Communications Chamber of Ghana. "Membership of the Forum puts us at the cutting edge of technological innovation and development and ensures we are in the best possible position to help deliver fast, affordable broadband for Ghana."

MoCA opted to join the Forum to utilize its data modelling and management standards for integration into its fiber extension technology, MoCA Access™.

"Building strong partnerships with other organizations is a key part of MoCA's strategy, enabling it to share available resources and subject matter expertise in the pursuit of open standards," said Charles Cerino, President of MoCA. "The Broadband Forum's reputation for technology development and innovative specifications meshes perfectly with our goals and we anticipate a productive collaboration."

For more information on the Broadband Forum's work and membership, visit: www.broadband-forum.org.

About the Broadband Forum
Broadband Forum, a non-profit industry organization, is focused on engineering smarter and faster broadband networks. The Forum's flagship TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol has now exceeded 350 million installations worldwide.

Our work defines best practices for global networks, enables new revenue-generating service and content delivery, establishes technology migration strategies, engineers critical device, service & development management tools, in the home and business IP networking infrastructure. We develop multi-service broadband packet networking specifications addressing architecture, device and service management, software data models interoperability and certification in the Broadband market.

Our free technical reports and white papers can be found at www.broadband-forum.org. Twitter @Broadband_Forum.

For more information about the Broadband Forum, please go to http://www.broadband-forum.org or follow @Broadband_Forum on Twitter. For further information please contact Brian Dolby on +44 (0) 7899 914168 or [email protected] or Jayne Brooks on +44 (0) 1636 704 888 or [email protected].   

About MoCA
MoCA® technology is the fastest and most reliable in-home backbone for Wi-Fi®--as proven by numerous field tests--and has been adopted by cable, telco/IPTV and satellite operators worldwide.  MoCA 2.0 offers actual data rates of up to 1 Gbps. MoCA 2.5 offers actual data rates up to 2.5 Gbps in addition to a variety of network management and security features.

MoCA Access™ is a fiber extension technology based on the MoCA 2.5 specification and is intended for MDUs, hotels and resorts, and any building with existing coaxial cabling.

The Alliance has 223 certified products and 35 members worldwide.

About Broadband Communications Chamber of Ghana
The Broadband Communications Chamber (BBCC) was established to achieve the objectives of creating a private, voluntary, business organization researching and advising on broadband use, policy and regulation for economic development. To encourage the accelerated use of true broadband and to increase Broadband penetration targets and develop capacity in the broadband industry.

The Chamber's Mission is to be a lobbying group for the development and expansion of the broadband industry in line with Global trend and Government's intention of rapid penetration and development of broadband.

SOURCE The Broadband Forum