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Pioneering development work in 5G, CloudCO and network virtualization was cited by Kevin Foster, Chairman of the Broadband Forum as one of the key reasons for its growth in 2017, with the announcement of an additional 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. 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.
Foster said that 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. These are key areas of focus for the organization, 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, added that 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 the organization's hugely successful Broadband Access Summit Events, 2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Forum.