Broadband Forum Embraces Open Source, Standards Development

The Broadband Forum embraced open source and standards development at a three-day meeting in Atlanta this week, it said in a news release Thursday. The forum includes major telecom companies from around the world including AT&T, Orange and Vodafone. At the meeting, the association said its board agreed the forum should “instigate new methods for rapid delivery of innovative software and standards for key use cases to the community of manufacturers, service providers and open-source organizations that replace traditional Standards Development Organization (SDO) approaches.” The forum plans to increase collaboration with industry groups developing open initiatives, including members and nonmembers, it said. “Perhaps the most important message is that while we have made significant strides towards 'agile, programmable and ultra-fast networks' in the last year, we need to dramatically extend and accelerate delivery of standards and software to enable the innovation the broadband industry needs,” forum CEO Robin Mersh said.