USP speeds up service provider deployments ahead of industry summit

In the run up to the 2024 USP Summit in March, global broadband service providers say they have shortened the time-to-market for new broadband products and IoT services by deploying Broadband Forum’s open standard User Services Platform (USP).

Four service providers involved in last year’s roundtable have unlocked new revenue streams by introducing new architecture, integrations, and device management in under 18 months. The companies said that USP offers a more efficient and versatile solution for device communication and management, proving to be an attractive proposition for operators and device manufacturers alike.

Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Global, Telus, and Vodafone have all declared the value that USP delivers citing deployments, successes, and lessons learned. It has been hailed as an example of the importance of early standardization and industry collaboration between the likes of Broadband Forum, prpl Foundation, and RDK.

“USP delivers secure and agile device management, data collection, service orchestration, and mobile app integration,” Volker Effelsberg, Deutsche Telekom said. “The USP Summit and Plugfest presented a perfect opportunity to hear about the global progress from other service providers with further insights on USP architecture becoming a reality.”

The 2024 USP Summit and the BASe Technical Summit 2024 (formerly known as UFBB) will be held March 7-8, 2024, in Mainz, Germany. These events will be held in conjunction with Broadband Forum’s Spring 2024 quarterly meeting taking place at the same event space from March 4-7, 2024. More details and registration are available here.

USP helps broadband service providers deploy, implement, and manage all aspects of the smart home. The USP data model, architecture, and communications protocol enable devices from multiple vendors to connect to the Wi-Fi home gateway for the broadband service provider to manage.

Last year at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory in Durham, New Hampshire, United States, a USP Plugfest was co-located with the USP Summit. Vendor company participants were able to test their features and the interoperability of their devices and services in a controlled, peer-reviewed environment.

“The success of last year’s USP Summit and Plugfest underscores the importance of the open standard within the industry, with service providers highlighting greater simplicity, compatibility, and network interoperability,” said Broadband Forum’s Connected Home Council Chair Jason Walls, from QA Cafe. “The testing was extremely helpful for participants who were able to make their solutions more robust and benchmark new interoperability milestones like software module management and Wi-Fi management.”

The industry can expect another USP Plugfest later in 2024.

“Our operator roundtable discussions highlighted that USP adoption is prevalent in Europe, while North America is rapidly catching up, with all service providers involved producing USP capable devices,” Walls added.

There has been overwhelming industry support for USP, with 85% of 111 global broadband service providers interviewed as part of a connected home report already deploying or planning to deploy USP within the next 6-18 months. The report published by OMDIA in conjunction with Broadband Forum highlighted that USP is critical for the delivery of new value-added services. Managed Wi-Fi, premium customer support, cybersecurity, voice assistants, and energy support were among the most popular value-added services they plan to use USP for.

CT Bureau