Broadband Forum Launches Gfast Council

The Hague, Netherlands – June 13, 2017: The Broadband Forum today announced it has launched the Gfast Council to centralize and disseminate the expertise and experience of  the Gfast market in order to facilitate the rapid deployment of Gfast implementations.

Gfast is the new gigabit broadband access technology that deploys faster by extending fiber to existing wiring infrastructure. The Gfast Council will inform the market through events, white papers, use cases and other resources.

“Consumers want ultrafast broadband speeds and they want them immediately. In many cases, Gfast offers service providers the best chance to meet this requirement,” said Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh. “The Council will be the center of expertise in Gfast and as such will work to show how Gfast fits into the bigger gigabit broadband picture covered by the Forum’s work.”

The Council will also promote the Gfast Certification program, which today announced the first certified, interoperable products, to help accelerate the availability of interoperable solutions and expedite timely integration with service providers’ networks.

“Gfast has become an essential tool for service providers,” said Michael Weissman, Chair of the Gfast Council. “The Gfast Council combines the collective intelligence of  150 members of the Broadband Forum to make the rollout of Gfast deployments faster and more successful.”

Open to all Broadband Forum members, the Council will represent the Broadband Forum and the Gfast community Broadband Forum and at industry events such as today’s TNO Ultrafast broadband event in The Hague.

The formation of the Gfast Council follows the creation of the NG-PON2 Council by the Forum earlier this year.

For more information on the Broadband Forum, visit the Broadband Forum website at broadband-forum.org.