The Linux Foundation has announced the formation of LF Broadband, an open and collaborative initiative aimed at driving innovation in open source broadband access. LF Broadband will support a range of projects transforming broadband networks and the Passive Optical Network (PON) industry, including the SEBA reference design for building open broadband networks and the VOLTHA open source project for virtualizing multi-vendor PON systems. These projects were previously hosted by the Open Networking Foundation and have now transitioned to the Linux Foundation.
LF Broadband’s open source broadband projects will be based on multi-vendor solutions already in production at Türk Telekom and Deutsche Telekom. The idea is to leverage multi-protocol, centralized network management and SDN control plane supporting existing and new OLTs and ONUs.
Initial projects under LF Broadband include VOLTHA and SEBA.
- VOLTHA provides common control and management for PON networks (OLTs and ONUs), supporting both open-hardware and traditional chassis-based OLTs with various adapters. With a highly scalable microservice architecture, VOLTHA stacks have been tested for tens of thousands of ONUs. It has been deployed in production environments by Deutsche Telekom and Türk Telekom, while multiple other operators have VOLTHA-based solutions in various stages of lab and field trials. The recently released VOLTHA v.2.12 offers robustness, device management enhancements, and support for additional subscriber profiles, driven by operator requirements. This version includes support for voice service profiles, improved error handling and recovery, enhanced management interfaces for logging, alarms, and attributes from OLTs, better observability infrastructure for OLT metrics, and stabilized test infrastructure.
- SEBA (SDN-Enabled Broadband Access) is a reference design intended to support broadband access with minimal prescription of technology choices, accommodating the network and feature needs of multiple operators with a common architecture. Supporting both residential access and wireless backhaul, SEBA serves as the foundational architecture for VOLTHA. SEBA is deployed in production by Türk Telekom.
The LF Broadband Directed Fund has been established as an independent fund under the Linux Foundation, dedicated to supporting broadband-related open source projects. These projects are already in deployment with major telecom operators such as Deutsche Telekom and Türk Telekom. LF Broadband was created from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), which merged with the Linux Foundation in late 2023. The merger split former ONF projects into three directed funds: LF Broadband, Aether, and P4. Supported by leading telecom, networking, and broadband providers, LF Broadband projects feature open source code, open interfaces, and future-proof designs based on cloud-native architecture. Initial members include Adtran, Deutsche Telekom, Digital Platforms, Excelacom, Iowa State University, Netsia, Radisys, Türk Telekom, Universidad de Burgos, and ZTE.
Arpit Joshipura has been appointed as the Executive Director of LF Broadband. Joshipura, who also serves as the General Manager of Networking and Orchestration at the Linux Foundation, oversees other subfoundations such as LF Networking and LF Edge, bringing extensive experience and leadership to the newly formed initiative. Ahmet Fethi Ayhan of Türk Telekom and Manuel Paul of Deutsche Telekom have been elected as co-chairs of the LF Broadband Governing Board. Other governing board members are Bora Eliacik of Netsia and Robert Soukup of Radisys.
“Deutsche Telekom is leveraging the VOLTHA framework as a key building block of our Access 4.0 network transformation program. As we continue our journey towards disaggregated and radically automated networks, we are pleased to serve and contribute to this community-led work in collaboration with peer industry & standards organizations, most importantly the Broadband Forum, under the Linux Foundation umbrella.” – Manuel Paul, Squad Lead Network Convergence, Deutsche Telekom.
“Türk Telekom has been a trailblazer in advocating for open-source technologies VOLTHA and SEBA, which enable the virtualization of access networks. Pioneering efforts in standardization, reference design leadership, and product development, Türk Telekom has elevated these technologies beyond mere trials, establishing the world’s first and largest live open-source-based (SEBA based) access network. Continuing to lead globally with an executive-level role at LF Broadband, Türk Telekom promises stronger progress through LF collaboration, aiding more operators in recognizing the true potential of these technologies. We take pride in being part of this community.” – Ahmet Fethi Ayhan, Network Director, Türk Telekom
