DSL Forum's New Direction

The DSL Forum is ready to evolve from setting the standards for the pure DSL network to developing solutions for multi-media service delivery, making decisions that will determine the shape of the next generation of the internet.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [September 14, 2006]

The DSL Forum (U.S. offices in Fremont, Calif.) wants everyone to know how fast DSL is growing. "DSL is adding 112,000 subscribers per day," notes Tom Starr, DSL Forum vice president and founding member (the DSL Forum was founded in 1994).

To date, the forum has focused on developing equipment standards to make DSL network equipment and CPE interoperable. It has also developed common remote management specifications and architecture standards. The work progresses through Working Texts (WTs) which, when finalized, become Technical Reports (TR). For example, TR-67 defines interoperability for ADSL.

Now, the Forum is launching an initiative called the BroadbandSuite, which is an "body of work to enable next generation broadband services." WT-134 is a good example of the new direction of their work, which will define protocols for real time policy and service control.

Membership reflects a history of equipment development. Membership is: 144 vendors (71 percent), 36 service providers (18 percent), 23 consultants (11 percent), and one regulatory entity (Hungary, although the forum does regularly brief legislators and regulators around the world).

Laurie Gonzalez, DSL Forum's marketing director, wants ISP-Planet readers to know that the forum is not just developing unfocused technical advancements, but serves the real market requirements of service providers today and their future applications. "We focus on all service providers, not just a couple of the big guys."

Starr adds that two associations that participate, NTCA and OPASTCO, represent more than 1000 smaller service providers.

The software issue
Gonzalez says that service providers of all sizes are facing the same problem. "ISPs and ASPs need a common interface to the various network service providers to avoid having to do special proprietary setups, thereby running more efficiently.

"They benefit today from the family of TR-069 specifications that improve customers' experiences via automated remote management and setting common gateway and device requirements, such as object models for VoIP devices, and set top boxes. One of the key things driving the Forum's focus on application network management is the boom in on-demand applications. Without intelligent policy control or network QoS triggers, applications like IPTV or VoIP are just best effort and that is just not enough to satisfy customers. We're not just passing files anymore. There's a new level of control and management that needs to happen to ensure the excellent customer experience."

So much of the work on applications is already underway.

But the membership has not yet changed to reflect the new focus. When we ask whether application providers are participating in the Forum, Gonzalez replies, "they would absolutely be welcome. Part of [what we're doing today] is making sure that ISPs and ASPs, the global community, know this work is going here. This work will affect their future and it is important for their voice to be heard in the development of these specifications."

Beyond DSL
In fact, the DSL Forum is moving so far forward that it's no longer exclusively about DSL. This surprises us, and we ask some sharp questions.

"The name of the DSL Forum won't change as it is a well known and respected industry body," explains Gonzalez. "With the launch of the BroadbandSuite, we're alerting the industry that we are focusing on more access agnostic solutions."

"We have a wonderful platform of work and committed industry engagement to build on, and we're moving up the OSI model," adds Starr.

Of course, the Forums vendor and service provider members are also moving beyond DSL to fiber and other technologies, and the DSL Forum is well aware of this.

"Whether it's DSL or fiber, it has to work on the same equipment at home. Of course, you shouldn't count out DSL too quickly. Many service providers are finding it attractive to put in fiber where it makes sense and using DSL elsewhere."

"With 150 million people already on DSL, many service providers are just making fiber the choice for green field deployments today. But there are more than a billion phone lines available for DSL deployment worldwide, and the more we can milk from those, the better."

The Broadband Suite is divided into three parts
The three subject areas of the DSL Forum's Broadband Suite initiative are:

• Broadband Control (network management and policy control)
• Broadband Access (transport and authentication)
• Broadband Home (home network remote management and CPE interoperability)

Key issues include: enabling IP-based QoS, IP multicast for IPTV, and remote device activation and troubleshooting.

"We want service delivery to be excellent and the customer to be satisfied wherever the application resides," says Gonzalez. "We're issuing an invitation for new work contributions. Much of the connectivity work has been completed, but with the move to IP Ethernet access aggregation (TR-101), there's much more to do. We're excited. There's a lot of energy in the forum.

The future of the Suite
We point out that many of these IP service problems are issues for ISPs with business customers, not just ISPs with residential customers.

"That's a good observation," Starr says. "First in our mind is the residential application, but many of these TRs have sections that address the business marketplace. I expect over the next year or so we will devote increased attention to business applications. There's a common misconception about ADSL that it's only used by residential consumers. More than 20 percent of ADSL lines worldwide are for business use."

Gonzalez adds that the DSL Forum is addressing applications that range from telework to telemedicine, and that the Forum works with business-focused technology organizations like the Metro Ethernet Forum.

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