By Telecom Lead Team: The Broadband Forum has launched
BroadbandSuite 6.0 that addresses network migration requirements with practical
resources, specifications, test plans, and best practice documentation.
With the burgeoning demand for high speed mobile services
combined with the growth in IP traffic and services, service providers can
introduce 4G/LTE networks simultaneously while migrating from existing legacy
2G and 3G mobile backhaul networks to a converged network architecture based on
IP/MPLS technology.
Launched at the MPLS & Ethernet World Congress in
Paris, BroadbandSuite 6.0 addresses demand for fast and reliable mobile
backhaul services.
Operators must be able to handle the increase in the
number and sophistication of devices coming online, including smartphones,
tablets and gaming consoles. This is critical, as industry forecasts
predict an exponential growth in global IP traffic, with around 15 billion
fixed and mobile networked devices and machine-to-machine connections by 2015,
according to reports issued by both Cisco and Ericsson.
A recent Pyramid report predicts that LTE is
likely to reach 592 million subscriptions in 2016, equivalent to 7.3 percent of
all cellular subscriptions. Of these, 57.3 percent of LTE subscriptions will be
smartphones, 33.4 percent PCs, 7.6 percent tablets and the remainder
machine-to-machine devices. Some 35 mobile operators have already launched
commercial LTE networks, with almost 200 devices now available.
The remarkable growth of mobile traffic, driven by
demand for data, video and emerging business services, means that the industry
must act quickly. The Broadband Forum continues to develop timely
specifications that empower the industry to engineer smart converged mobile
backhaul implementations,” said Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum.
BroadbandSuite 6.0 provides the tools that give operators
the ability to architect a standards-based network design. The test plans and
BBF certification allows them to select the right product and vendor in the
knowledge that they conform to global specifications. Service providers now
have the ability to build a converged, MPLS-based mobile backhaul network
leveraging their existing legacy wireless technologies and evolving into the
all-IP infrastructure that today’s applications demand.
