Ethernet gains gold standard
ntl:Telewest Business Ethernet services gain MEF 14
accreditation
Our Ethernet portfolio’s long track record of innovation and
great performance has just been given the official seal of
approval, with the news that we've gained MEF 14 certification. The
Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) is a global industry alliance,
comprising more than 120 organizations, which exists to develop
technical specifications and implementation agreements that promote
interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet worldwide. The
MEF 14 accreditation required rigorous performance testing of the
ntl:Telewest core and access networks, meaning that customers can
be assured that our MEF 14 certified Ethernet services support the
most stringent real time communications applications, including
VOIP and HD quality videoconferencing.
Julien St.John-Dennis, Head of Business Products at ntl:Telewest
Business commented: "We're delighted to have achieved the latest
certification in Ethernet standards - MEF 14. Last year we achieved
MEF 9 and were keen to build on that performance, in keeping with
our strategy to maintain and build on our reputation for
performance and innovation with our leading Ethernet product
portfolio for enterprise, service provider and public sector
organisations."
This MEF Certification ensures conformance to the MEF Quality of
Service attributes, a requirement of SLAs (Service Level
Agreements) supporting simultaneous real-time and data intensive
business applications. The certificates were presented at a special
awards ceremony in Chicago on Tuesday by Nan Chen, the president of
the Metro Ethernet Forum, and Bob Mandeville, president and founder
of Iometrix, the company responsible for the conformance
testing.
"These results confirm that Carrier Ethernet is ready for prime
time," commented Nan Chen. The performance was within SONET/SDH
standards for key multimedia indicators like delay and jitter,
confirming Carrier Ethernet’s suitability for mission critical
applications while reducing capital and operating expenses."
Bob Mandeville explained, "This was the first and only way to
test one-way traffic metrics - critical for ensuring successful
converged network applications. Iometrix had to perform intensive
testing over a 3 month period. This was no ’walk in the park’ as
all services were subjected to extremely aggressive criteria,
representing up to ten times the standard of typical service level
agreements (SLAs)."
Ethernet - why we lead the industry
As the UK’s leading cable provider, we've deployed
our own, advanced access network. This is the largest privately
built network in the UK and comes with the largest Carrier Ethernet
service coverage in the UK, with 330 Ethernet PoPs over our own
national footprint, which is far more than any competitor.
Following a £13 billion investment in our network, we provide
Carrier Ethernet services over a fibre MPLS core rather than over
older technologies such as ATM or SONET. As our fibre network is
already deployed to the kerb it's closer to you, making it easy and
quick to extend fibre directly into your premises. This means that
we can deliver Ethernet directly over fibre rather than relying on
legacy technologies. As a result of all this, our services are more
flexible, provide better throughput and deliver improved
performance characteristics to our customers.
In keeping with the MEF’s focus on services to the enterprise,
all tests were run from an enterprise point of view: field tests
using real circuits on production networks with measurements taken
on simulated customer premises interfaces. All three MEF defined
Carrier Ethernet services, EPL, EVPL and E-LAN, were tested
according to the service portfolios submitted by the service
providers seeking accreditation. It is important to know that all
newly MEF 14 certified service provider services, without
exception, have previously received MEF 9 certification.
Related Links