ATIS OANF forum addresses the North American open-access fiber opportunity

ATIS is addressing the open-access fiber network challenge with the debut of the Open Access Network Forum (OANF), a group focused on leveraging real-world deployments and helping the market scale through common APIs and implementation guidance.

OANF is a collaborative forum for ISPs, open-access infrastructure providers, and technology partners to align on the principles, architectures, and operating models needed to scale open-access fiber in North America.

By developing a unified Open Access Implementation Specification that covers business, operational, technical, and regulatory considerations, the Forum will reduce integration complexity, improve interoperability, shorten time-to-market for new service providers, and help direct more resources toward fiber deployment rather than bespoke integrations.

“OANF will help bring greater consistency to how open-access networks are designed, integrated, and operated, making it easier for service providers to launch and expand services for end users across the North American market,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “This initiative is another way ATIS is advancing ICT industry transformation by helping simplify service enablement in open-access environments.”

One notable aspect of OANF is that it is led by Chair Scott Baker, Corporate ServiceNow Platform Architecture at AT&T Technology Services, and Vice Chair Sajan Parikh, Chief Technology Officer at COS Systems.

Initially touted by community-led providers, UTOPIA, the open-access concept has gained popularity after AT&T launched its Gigapower initiative with BlackRock.

“It’s a privilege to co-chair OANF and to work alongside stakeholders across the open-access community to help align on practical, scalable approaches for open-access fiber,” said Baker. “AT&T was an early adopter of the open-access model in North America, and we’re excited about what broader adoption and stronger interoperability across the ecosystem can unlock for the industry.”

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