DSL Forum

DSL delivers the vast majority of broadband across the world. DSL technology is based on using telephone lines which of course have been around for a hundred years now. Tom Star, Vice President of the DSL Forum explains.

Source: Satellite Evolution

July 2007

07-10-07
DSL Forum: Strange Place To Find Network Monitoring Help

While there really should be no surprises in the converging-merging-amorphous telecommunications space any more, it's a little mind boggling that carriers and vendors alike are congealing behind a DSL Forum specification TR-069 (Technical Report) to monitor and maintain home networks.

Most surprisingly is that those who support the spec don't necessarily use DSL to get the signal to the home. "You can look at our name and what we're doing and it seems less intuitive, but as services have started being delivered in to the home this has been the focus of the DSLHome Tech working group for a couple of years," says Heather Kirksey, senior manager of standards and emerging technologies at Motive and co-chair of the DSL Forum DSLHome Technical working group.

TR-069 defines the remote management protocol to do service provisioning, troubleshooting, diagnostics, performance monitoring and firmware management within the home network.

Source: Telecommunications Magazine Online
Author: Jim Barthold

June 2007

06-01-07
Light Years Apart

The French and British often pride themselves on their differences. Flamboyancy and showmanship favoured by the Frech; restraint cherished by the British.

When it comes to broadband access, the respective incumbets of these two countries are showing similar differences in style. France Telecom has nailed its Orange colour to the FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) mast and is scheduled this summer to start expanding the availability of commercial 100Mpbs downstream services beyond Paris. Major cities to see FTHH will include Lille, Marseille, Poitiers and Toulouse.

If all goes well, France Telecom will embark on delivering broadband services over light wavelenths - via a GPON architecture - on a mass scale at the start of 2009.

BT, however, is far more cautious. The UK incumbent prefers to stick to ADSL2+ for the next few years and will roll that out alongside its 21CN, the all-IP core network that BT plans to replace its entire PSTN with by the end of 2011.

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Source: Telecommunications Magazine
Author: Ken Wieland

March 2007

03-01-07
Home Networking Goes Global

When AT&T last summer decided that it would go with HPNA (Home Phone Network Alliance) v.3 as its home networking technology of choice for home networking for its U-Verse service suite over MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance), it added new fuel to the HomePNA flame.

AT&T’s decision was based on the fact that it needed a home networking technology that could run over coax and/or copper in both single-family homes and, more importantly, MDUs.

And now the HomePNA standards effort, which has been spearheaded with major contributions from both AT&T and Coppergate, has reached yet another milestone as HPNA v.3 has been officially named an ITU standard for multimedia home networking.

Source: Telecommunications Magazine
Author: Sean Buckley

November 2006

11-02-06
Telecom's DSL Subs Rise in Q3

The Bells' broadband efforts fared better in the third quarter than in the second. AT&T, BellSouth, Qwest Communications and Verizon Communications gained a combined 1,179,000 broadband subscribers in the third quarter, up 17% from the second quarter.

Comcast added 536,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter and 483,000 voice customers. Charter Communications, the country's fourth largest cable provider, reported 88,100 new high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter as well as 82,000 new voice customers.

Consumers are also increasingly opting for higher speeds in their broadband connections, the Bells reported. Forty-two percent of AT&T's DSL lines are now faster than 1.5 Mb/s, up from 22% a year ago. Thirty-one percent of BellSouth's DSL subscribers have 3 Mb/s connections or faster, up from 16% a year ago. And the majority of Qwest's DSL subscribers opt for one of its higher-speed tiers.

Source: TelephonyOnline
Author: Ed Gubbins

October 2006

10-10-06
DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM: Initiative Makes its Mark in Europe
Source: DallasNews.com

DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM Makes its Mark in Europe
Source: Kron.com

DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM Iniative Makes its Mark in Europe
Source: PR Newswire

DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM fuels next generation broadband growth in Europe and facilitates ubiquitous broadband access
Source: RBC Dain Rauscher Inc.

DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM Initiative Makes its Mark in Europe
Source: Ventura County Star California News

DSL Forum's BroadbandSuite^TM Initiative Makes its Mark in Europe
Source: Yahoo!

September 2006

09-13-06
DSL: Not Just a Pipe Anymore - DSL Forum Develops blueprint for next-generation broadband services

With more than 150 million subscribers to date, it¹s clear that DSL adoption is on the rise.

But DSL is no longer just about a fat, dumb pipe for basic Internet access. The rise of multi-play service bundles from traditional service providers (i.e. voice, video, data and converged mobile services) has driven the DSL Forum to develop the BroadbandSuite initiative to address interoperability and management across any last-mile architecture.

This initiative is in response to the ever-growing utility of DSL technology. Users can now operate a number of devices in the home (MTAs, integrated modem/routers, and STBs) to carry not only basic Internet data, but also watch multi-channel HDTV, VOD, and VoIP.

Tom Starr, VP and Secretary for the DSL Forum, says the BroadbandSuite initiative is about expanding the forum¹s scope to meet emerging broadband access needs over any last-mile network medium. "Whereas originally we were about a big pipe over the last couple miles, we now are looking at the end-to end network architecture protocols, policy management functionalities to provide services,: says Starr. ³We are now access agnostic. This means that the specifications we are developing, the architecture, and home networking specifications work the same regardless if it¹s ADSL, VDSL, fiber, or wireless."

Source: Telecommunications Magazine
Author: Sean Buckley

09-12-06
DSL Forum unveils blueprint for accelerating adoption of next-generation broadband services

BroadbandSuite^TM: Initiative to Create a Common Global Access and Control Platform to Elevate the Experience of Next Generation IP Services

"The DSL Forum serves as the catalyst for developing critical standards necessary for the delivery of DSL and integrated services across the globe,² said Matt Davis, Director, Consumer Multiplay at IDC. ³Companies not normally associated strictly with DSL, such as consumer electronics vendors and home networking companies stand to benefit as the DSL Forum evolves in order to create the technological underpinnings necessary for the delivery of voice, video, and multimedia over DSL and other broadband technologies."

BroadbandSuite extends the concept of traditional end-to-end solutions by developing an access and management platform responsive to devices beyond the customer gateway as well as the distribution network. This ³blueprint² is designed to minimize provisioning and maintenance issues for service and application providers who must support vast and growing requirements of new applications and hardware. With BroadbandSuite, components work together seamlessly, delivering a high quality consumer experience vital for driving next-generation voice, video, data and mobile services.

"Our BroadbandSuite initiative clearly reflects the DSL Forum¹s commitment to stimulate greater opportunities for the broadband industry as well as even better value for consumers," said Michael Brusca, chairman and president, DSL Forum.

Source: TelephonyWorld.com

09-12-06
DSL Forum broadens its focus to include BroadbandControl and BroadbandHome architecture

The DSL Forum is broadening its mission beyond DSL to address interoperability and management across DSL, fiber and alternative broadband technologies. In addition to the new access technologies, the expanded focus will also include the network control layer or a service provider network and the broadband home network.

Source: Converge! Network Digest

09-12-06
DSL Forum unveils blueprint for accelerating adoption of next-generation broadband services

"The DSL Forum serves as the catalyst for developing critical standards necessary for the delivery of DSL and integrated services across the globe," said Matt Davis, Director, Consumer Multiplay at IDC. "Companies not normally associated strictly with DSL, such as consumer electronics vendors and home networking companies stand to benefit as the DSL Forum evolves in order to create the technological underpinnings necessary for the delivery of voice, video, and multimedia over DSL and other broadband technologies."

BroadbandSuite extends the concept of traditional end-to-end solutions by developing an access and management platform responsive to devices beyond the customer gateway as well as the distribution network. This "blueprint" is designed to minimize provisioning and maintenance issues for service and application providers who must support vast and growing requirements of new applications and hardware. With BroadbandSuite, components work together seamlessly, delivering a high quality consumer experience vital for driving next-generation voice, video, data and mobile services.

Source: Broadband-Today
Author: BBT Staff

09-12-06
DSL Forum turns into next-generation networks - including HFC

At the behest of its members, the DSL Forum is expanding its scope beyond the various flavors of DSL to include a variety of next-generation networks, including fiber-based and wireless networks.

This effort may include cable. Representatives of the DSL Forum said they will be meeting next month with EuroCableLabs at the 2006 Broadband World Forum Europe conference, set for Oct. 9-12 in Paris, to determine if there are areas of common interest. The DSL Forum was also enthusiastic about establishing contacts with CableLabs in the U.S.

Globally, DSL is by far the dominant broadband technology, used by more than 150 million subscribers. This level of success has drawn the participation of a continuously evolving membership that is now beginning to include consumer electronics vendors and home networking companies.

Source: CED - Broadband Today
Author: Brian Santo

09-12-06
DSL Forum Introduces Broadband Blueprint

The DSL Forum, an international consortium of more than 200 member organizations, announces a major initiative to fuel the growth of next-generation broadband services. Taking into account the variety of ways people are beginning to enjoy ³quadruple play² services voice, video, data and mobile the new BroadbandSuite initiative expands the DSL Forum¹s mission beyond DSL to address interoperability and management across DSL, fiber and alternative broadband technologies.

Source: Light Reading

09-12-06
DSL Forum: We're about more than just copper-based access

DSL is now an undisputed success, with 67 percent of broadband market share, deployment in every region of the world and 128,000 new users of the technology coming online every day. So it would seem The DSL Forum¹s work is done, right? Wrong, said The DSL Forum, which now is expanding its work to include fiber access and promoting its activities that go beyond pure access.

"Our focus is now on redefining what it means to have end-to-end solutions," said Laurie Gonzalez, marketing director for The DSL Forum. For example, she said, service providers are integrating fiber into their networks, and so are looking for a common management platform through which to manage both copper and fiber access. The DSL Forum aims to address that need, Gonzalez said.

Source: xChange Online

09-12-06
DSL Forum releases blueprint for accelerating adoption of next-generation broadband services

"The new BroadbandSuite initiative expands the DSL Forum's mission beyond DSL to address interoperability and management across DSL, fiber and alternative broadband technologies...Service providers are evolving their access infrastructures to serve more customers with newer services through adoption of a common set of specifications, including DSL Forum Technical Reports (TR).

Source: Cabeling Networking Systems (CNS)

09-11-06
DSL Forum Hires New Chief Operating Officer

"Robin Mersh has been named COO of the DSL Forum, a consortium made up of more than 200 service providers and vendors."

Source: CED

09-11-06
AT&T and Verizon may need the best legal talent in the industry

Source: DSL Prime
Author: Dave Burstein

09-06-2006
Digital Home Intelligence: MTS All Stream Automates Broadband Service Delivery

"Today¹s broadband home network is no longer just a modem and computer. Consumers now have a wide array of integrated wireless/wireline devices -- not to mention set-top boxes -- to distribute their broadband and multimedia services throughout the home. With that opportunity comes the challenge of effectively managing the customer experience without a truck roll expense every time there¹s a service issue."

Source: Telecommunications Magazine
Author: Sean Buckley

May 2006

05-29-06
Broadband Internet becoming a part of daily life: High-speed access is helping to bridge the digital divide

"More people than ever -- including minorities and lower- and middle-income households -- are hooking up to high-speed Internet access, the majority of them using DSL, a study released Sunday said. About 84 million U.S. residents now have broadband Internet access at home, up 40 percent from 60 million last year, a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found. The increase comes as both the price of personal computers and the cost of Internet service continue to fall. AT&T, for instance, is selling DSL to new customers in the Bay Area for as low as $12.99 per month. That has helped push a more diverse group of users onto the Internet, suggesting that the gap in the digital divide may be narrowing."

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
Author: Ellen Lee