Light Reading & Iometrix to Produce the First Global Interconnect Demo of Carrier Ethernet Services & Products at Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009

For the first time, live Ethernet services from multiple telecommunications carriers will be interconnected to demonstrate global enterprise connectivity

NEW YORK, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ – Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the world’s leading integrated media company serving the $3 trillion global communications market, announces the industry’s first ever live Carrier Ethernet services interconnect demonstration to be held at its Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009 Conference and Expo in London on May 13 and 14 (www.ethernetexpoeurope.com).

In partnership with Iometrix (www.iometrix.com), a leading network testing company, Light Reading will present the Global Interconnect Demonstration, which will involve interconnecting both Carrier Ethernet services that conform to the industry standard MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) specifications as well as the core and access Ethernet switches that enable the services. The MEF, as the industry body that defines Carrier Ethernet specs and services, is supporting this event.

“The demonstration comes at a critical time in the development of the Carrier Ethernet services market,” said Joe Braue, Group Director at Light Reading. “Carrier Ethernet services offer scalable wide-area network services at one-third the price of existing services – or less. A success in cities and metro areas, Carrier Ethernet services must prove to large and medium-sized enterprises that hundreds of sites on their networks can be connected together, ordered, and managed easily from multiple carriers across the globe.”

“The MEF supports initiatives such as this, which demonstrate the use of MEF-defined Carrier Ethernet networks and services and help accelerate their worldwide adoption,” said Nan Chen, MEF President. “Interconnect, including service management automation, will be a key element of the global rollout of Carrier Ethernet services over the next several years.”

The demo will be designed and organized by Iometrix, which is the authorized test lab of the Metro Ethernet Forum, and will have several major components:

• Live, interconnected Carrier Ethernet services

         Major service providers from around the globe will demonstrate
         interconnected Carrier Ethernet services. At the heart of this
         demonstration a giant screen will display and track interconnected
         circuits and services on a live Carrier Ethernet Global Interconnect
         Service Map posting key performance and management information.

• Vendor Showcase

         The Vendor Showcase, the engine room of Global Interconnect, will
         provide show delegates with a close-up view of the next-generation
         implementations of protocols and services from multiple core and
         access switch vendors working together to interoperate and create
         the foundations for a new expanded and global service landscape.

• Live, global videoconferences

         The latest, high-bandwidth applications, such as global interactive
         video services, will be run over circuits interconnecting the show
         floor to sites around the world with service quality checks performed
         in real time.

“The single most important goal of the Global Interconnect Demo is to comprehensively demonstrate Carrier Ethernet service providers’ readiness to interconnect and rapidly expand their service offerings in response to pressing enterprise demand for Ethernet services with a worldwide footprint,” said Bob Mandeville, President of Iometrix.

Telecommunications carriers and equipment makers wishing to participate in the Global Interconnect demo should contact Iometrix at info@iometrix.com or phone +1 949-400-4444.

Equipment makers looking to participate in Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009 should contact sales@lightreading.com. Ethernet Expo is one of the largest Carrier Ethernet conferences and expos in the world.

For more information on Ethernet Expo: Europe, visit www.ethernetexpoeurope.com.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading‘s research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About Iometrix

Iometrix is the networking industry’s preeminent testing authority. Established in Silicon Valley in 2003, Iometrix is the successor to ENL (European Network Laboratories), the pioneering test lab Bob Mandeville founded in 1991 in Paris. Iometrix provides globally recognized and trusted certification tests as the official certification laboratory of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) and the MultiService Forum (MSF). Iometrix continues to forge innovative test methodologies to rigorously test emerging technologies and is strongly committed to advancing industry testing standards.

    Contact:

    Amy Averbook
    Director of Corporate Marketing
    Light Reading
    averbook@lightreading.com
    212-925-0020 x112

SOURCE Light Reading