TR-069, the broadband management protocol, turns 20. What’s next? • Registry

Interview Technical Report 69, or TR-069, which outlines how broadband routers and other on-premises equipment can be remotely provisioned and automatically managed by ISPs, turns 20.

It is a protocol that has made it much easier for subscribers to provide broadband Internet.

It’s time for TR-069, the WAN CPE Management Protocol, to be retired and replaced by TR-369, the User Services Platform or USP.

Jason Walls, co-director of the Broadband Forum, which oversees these technical specifications, assured us that the transition will be seamless.

“We don’t really use the term ‘obsolete’ as a hard phrase,” Walls told us in the interview, which you can play below. “What this really means is that it’s time for us to (say) we’re not going to change anything about (TR-069)… so all our work going forward will be focused on TR-369.”

“I like to think of it as a sunset,” Walls added, also pointing to a graphic depicting the TR-69 as a cowboy riding into the sunset. “He’ll still be there if we need to call him.”

Watch the chat above to learn a little about the history of this protocol, which is quite basic but mostly out of sight, and what’s coming in terms of CPE provisioning and monitoring. ®