As we construct a world with billions of devices connecting us to new services and applications, and as machines begin to interact directly to other machines (M2M), the way to manage this complex environment has never been more important.

 

Across the industry, TR-069, the Broadband Forum’s CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP), is recognized as the ‘gold standard’ of remote management. It enables us to correctly and cost-effectively manage, monitor and control the wide range of devices and systems. So much so that a recent Ovum study shows widespread usage of TR-069 in all continents:

Confirming 150 million devices managed by TR-069 and that number is growing rapidly!

 

The Broadband Forum’s flagship CWMP, otherwise known as the TR-069 technical specification, is easily one of the most widely deployed broadband home management standards. Originally conceived for the connected home market, TR-069 has been extensively updated and expanded to cover business services, M2M and Cloud environments. The protocol is set to become even more pervasive following the launch later this year of the first ever Broadband Forum BBF.069 CPE Certification program.

 

Certification means service providers roll out  new products with confidence

 

Broadband Forum BBF.069 Certification sends a clear and simple message to the industry confirming that a device is market-ready.  It helps equipment and system vendors reduce testing overhead and enables them to easily market their products – increasing their ability to address a much larger market overall.

 

The goals of the program are:

• To verify that devices are TR-069 protocol-compliant and market-ready
• To simplify integration of home networking systems and equipment into providers’ networks
• To improve device interoperability, making it cost effective and easy for service providers to provision and manage the plethora of devices coming online

 

The Broadband Forum Certification program has substantial advantages for all participants in the value chain. The program ensures network compliance and quality, and also offers service providers an enhanced level of confidence that certified CPE devices in the customers’ homes will interoperate better with their remote management Auto-Configuration Servers. This makes it a simple task to automatically provision and manage a much wider range of devices than ever before.

 

We are talking about managing beyond a broadband gateway – and facilitating interaction with other devices such as STBs, IP phones and NAS connected to the home network. This is critical to the provider’s capacity to exceed customer expectations as they are able to remotely configure, manage and troubleshoot all the cool new devices coming online.  For consumers, that is a promise of hassle-free service provisioning, trouble-shooting and upgrades.

 

The market potential in the home networks is huge

 

New analysis from ABI Research suggests that by 2014, shipments of core home networking equipment (home gateways/routers, adapters, bridges, Network Interface Cards (NICs), embedded Local Area Network (LAN), and Network Attached Storage (NAS)), along with networked-enabled media devices (CE devices with network connectivity, excluding computers and mobile devices) will exceed one billion units. A report from IHS iSuppli estimates that worldwide gateway and thin client shipments could reach 4.2 million units in 2012, up from 345,000 last year, and continue to climb quickly during the next two years — rising to 6.7 million units in 2013, to 10.4 million in 2014 and to 12.6 million by 2015.

So what does TR-069 mean to the world?

 

• Producers of digital home solutions, CE equipment and ‘smart’ meters and appliances have the opportunity to sell more TR-069 certified products as they can ensure they are easily integrated into a home network and can be effectively managed remotely.
• Content providers have a similar opportunity to increase sales, with consumption growing as the move to a multi-screen and device ecosystem gathers pace.
• Service providers can sell more managed services and devices, to up-sell basic broadband, all while reducing equipment and network support costs through TR-069 remote management- ultimately increasing customer loyalty and ‘stickiness’.
• Utility providers are able to broaden their service repertoires, and offer TR-069 based home control and monitoring
• Meantime, various government-sponsored initiatives around the world plan to utilize TR-069 to build networks of smart meters in homes, improving the management of energy resources, while potentially reducing consumers’ household bills.

 

The role of TR-069 is therefore critical to providers’ ability to monitor, manage and control an increasingly complex array of connected devices, terminals and equipment. It enables service providers to maintain high levels of quality of end user experience, and provides them with tools to improve customer service- two prerequisites that are important factors in successfully commercializing multi-screen and blended service propositions. With the advent of Broadband Forum BBF.069 Certification, TR-069 provides the key to expediting the exciting growth and potential of Connected Home services around the world.

Why have a Broadband Forum Certification Program?

• Internationally respected organization with 17 years of interoperability program excellence

• Service Provider driven test plans/required in global RFPs

• Shortens test cycles. Offers single round of universally recognized tests-decreasing costs

• Helps vendors competitively position products globally

• Independent standards based certification creates a common language

• Eases the launch of products and expedites broadband deployments

Are your devices TR-069 compliant and market-ready?

To learn more about the Broadband Forum BBF.069 Certification Program, and to schedule testing for your devices, go to

 

http://www.broadband-forum.org/technical/test_cert_programs.php