Count-Down to Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009

LONDON - Industry leaders participate in the telco industry’s first ever Ethernet global interconnect demonstration

Light Reading has announced the latest details on the Global Interconnect demonstration and conference program at Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009, May 13-14 at ExCel Conference Centre in London. COLT, Tata Communications, and ntl:Telewest will be working together with leading vendors Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Creanord, Matisse Networks, Omnitron Systems, and Spirent to present the telco industry’s first ever public demonstration of globally interconnected Carrier Ethernet services.

Keynote speeches from Nan Chen (MEF), Alireza Mahmoodshahi (COLT), Dr. Kamran Sistanizadeh (Reliance Globalcom), Steve Best (BT Wholesale), and Matthew Finnie (Interoute), head a topical program of “Success Story” presentations and educational “Think Tanks” addressing specific topics including: converged packet optical solutions, consumer video services, service management strategies, and application performance challenges. The program is rounded off with the presentation of this year’s Light Reading Carrier Ethernet Awards for service providers, vendors, and the person of the year.

“Ethernet Expo, with partners Iometrix and the MEF’s support, is moving the entire Carrier Ethernet industry and ecosystem forward with the Global Interconnect demo,” says Joseph Braue, Group Director/Senior Vice President, Light Reading. “The response from Tier 1 carriers COLT, NTL, and Tata, and the commitment of industry-leading vendors underline the vital significance of this event. The power of this cooperation, combined with an impressive list of speakers from both the telcom industry and enterprise, puts Ethernet Expo at the very forefront of today’s Carrier Ethernet revolution.”

The two-day conference runs from 8:00 to 17:00 on Wednesday, May 13, and from 8:00 to 15:00 on Thursday - ending with the prestigious Ethernet Expo Europe Awards ceremony. Five categories will be awarded this year: two for Ethernet Service Provider of the Year, celebrating Best Ethernet Service and Best Product Portfolio; two for Carrier Ethernet Vendor of the Year, covering Best Access Product and Best Infrastructure Product; and a special award for Carrier Ethernet Person of the Year for the industry professional who has made the greatest contribution to advance the adoption of Carrier Ethernet services and/or technologies in Europe since last year’s Ethernet Expo.

Bob Mandeville, President and Founder of Iometrix, the company organizing the Global Interconnect demonstration, explains: “Global Interconnect will integrate multiple demonstrations built around live, interconnected services delivered by COLT, ntl:Telewest, and Tata Communications. They will be working together to show that MEF-certified Carrier Ethernet services are already spanning the globe and are fully able to meet corporate customer expectations.”

A live circuit will run from the Conference Centre to a London data exchange, then to Frankfurt, back to London, and back to the Conference Centre, running ongoing videoconferencing services with service quality checks performed in real time. Videoconferencing is not only a highly demanding interactive application in terms of bandwidth and performance, it is also very challenging as a demonstration because poor quality of experience is immediately visible to the viewer. For a truly unique “world-first” demonstration, a second circuit spans the globe from London to Los Angeles to Singapore to Chemai in India and back to London, and will be posting key performance and management statistics on a real-time display to demonstrate how MEF14-certified service offerings can be chained together to create a global interconnected service that you can still rely on to perform to MEF14 standards.

Adjoining the demonstration is the Vendor Showcase, the engine room of Global Interconnect, offering 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.

The full program and demonstration details can be found on Light Reading’s Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009 Website: www.ethernetexpoeurope.com. Registration for press and analysts is free.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the US$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 TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than US$2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetisation of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com

Contact: Amy Averbook Director of Corporate Marketing Light Reading averbook@lightreading.com +1-212-925-0020 x112

Source: Light Reading

Amy Averbook, Director of Corporate Marketing, Light Reading, +1-212-925-0020 x112, averbook at lightreading.com