By: Christele Bouchat and Manuel Paul, Work Area Directors of the Wireless-Wireline Convergence Work Area at Broadband Forum
The convergence of wireless and wireline networks will provide a consistent 5G experience no matter how consumers are connected, delivering on the technology’s many promises – from better and differentiated Quality of Experience (QoE) to advances in the IoT and AI fields. In 2023, fixed and mobile networks are continuing to converge and with operators investing heavily into network upgrades, there is a crucial need for a common, converged core infrastructure. Comprehensive standards are the foundation for the industry to fully capitalize on the benefits offered by 5G Convergence.
Broadband Forum’s Wireless-Wireline Convergence (WWC) Work Area, in a fruitful collaboration with 3GPP, has done the groundwork specifying the connection points between wireline broadband and 5G core networks. Addressing the needs of operators so they could leverage their assets with combined subscriber offerings with a converged core, Broadband Forum’s specifications released with 3GPP Rel.16 have advanced this mission significantly. Good news for the industry is that Broadband Forum continues its specification work in partnership with 3GPP to unlock the full potential of 5G convergence.