MEF Emphasizes MSOs’ Embrace of Carrier Ethernet
December 6, 2006
By Paula Bernier
The Metro Ethernet Forum today staged a press event to spotlight the cable industry’s adoption of carrier Ethernet and involvement in the MEF.
The event gave Cox Business, ntl:Telewest and Time Warner Cable an opportunity to provide updates on their carrier Ethernet interests; celebrated the signing on of the MEF’s 100th member – leading MSO supplier ARRIS; and announced MEF’s intention to work more closely with CableLabs to align the forum’s work with the DOCSIS standard.
MEF’s MSO members today include Cablevision Lightpath, Colt, Cox Communications Inc., ntl:Telewest, RCN and Time Warner Cable, which combined represent about 25 million customers in the United States alone. The MEF said it expects to add further to its ranks of cablecos in the future.
In April, the MEF certified two of those companies -- Cablevision Lightpath and ntl:Telewest Business -- as complying with its global Carrier Ethernet Service definitions.
Since then, Colt, TWC and RCN have also been MEF 9 certified. This means that the Ethernet Private Line (EPL), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) and Ethernet LAN (E-LAN) services offered by these providers are in compliance with the service definitions as standardized by MEF.
TMC offers all of the three above-mentioned services, said Ken Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of Time Warner Cable Business Class, adding that MEF 9 Certification assists the company in further developing customer recognition through clear service definitions, competition service parity, credibility and quality perception. Fitzpatrick also mentioned that TWC has “strong crossover” plans for carrier Ethernet to be used in both residential and business applications.
Kristine Faulkner, vice president of product development of Cox, said her company is using carrier Ethernet services to serve and appeal to companies in the education, health care, financial, government and SMB/professional services sector. Cox is working toward getting MEF certification in 2007, she added, noting that this company’s carrier Ethernet efforts are currently focused specifically on the business services end.
For ntl:Telewest, it’s Ethernet backhaul and IPCCTV that are fueling its carrier Ethernet activities, said Andrew McGrath of the European cable provider, although he said Ethernet is part of its business and residential services. The company, a result of the mergers of ntl, Telewest and MVNO Virgin Mobile earlier this year, is the United Kingdom’s largest cableco, second largest fixed-line operator and the world’s most successful MVNO.
McGrath said ntl:Telewest provides Ethernet backhaul to most if not all of the “unbundlers” in the United Kingdom. Carrier Ethernet is ideal for closed-circuit TV, he added, because with it security authorities can send video from anywhere and share it with multiple destinations over an Ethernet backbone.
ARRIS - www.arrisi.com
MEF - www.MetroEthernetForum.org
