NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--June 10, 2004-- The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) today announced that it will be hosting a triple keynote event "The Next Ethernet Wave" in conjunction with SUPERCOMM show organizers featuring Ethernet inventor, Bob Metcalfe, IDC senior analyst Ron Kaplan and MEF President, Nan Chen. The event takes place between 2:15pm and 3:30pm in room S101 at the SUPERCOMM 2004 exhibition, McCormick Place, Chicago on Wednesday June 23rd. Tickets for this event can be obtained at the MEF SUPERCOMM booth 20736 any time on Tuesday or before 1pm on Wednesday as places will be strictly limited.
"The US market for metro Ethernet Services is set to rise from a current level of $419 million to $1.3 billion in the next four years," according to IDC research manager Ron Kaplan, "and that is a conservative estimate covering services alone. As metro Ethernet continues to develop, with the addition of service interworking and better SLAs, it will become an even more attractive option to US companies. "
Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe will speak first about Ethernet's amazing 31 years of proliferation and evolution. He'll suggest where Ethernet might go next after last year's shipment of 184 million 10/100 wired Ethernet LAN ports. In the second address Ron Kaplan will focus on the broader industry context and where IDC sees the market moving - with particular attention paid to their recent research covering metro Ethernet Services' anticipated growth from 2004 to 2008. Finally Nan Chen, President of the Metro Ethernet Forum, will present a privileged preview of five totally new metro Ethernet specifications.
"The MEF is focused on developing the technical specifications that will accelerate a carrier's ability to deploy the building blocks for a robust metro Ethernet services program," said Nan Chen, president of the Metro Ethernet Forum. "The MEF is fortunate to have some of the world's largest carriers - BellSouth, Qwest, SBC, Verizon, AT&T, British Telecom, France Telecom and NTT for example - as active members that help create the specifications that will ultimately drive Metro Ethernet service programs within their networks."
Visitors to the show can also witness at booth 20736 a technical interoperability "SUPERDemo" of key building blocks which carriers use to deploy metro Ethernet services. Twenty MEF member companies will demonstrate live implementation of six key MEF Technology Focus Areas - Metro Ethernet Network Protection, Ethernet UNI (User Network Interface), Ethernet Services, Circuit Emulation over Ethernet, Ethernet Traffic Management, and Test and Service Assurance.
About the Metro Ethernet Forum
The Metro Ethernet Forum is a non-profit organization created to accelerate the adoption of Ethernet in metro networks worldwide, the Metro Ethernet Forum consists of approximately 70 member companies representing a range of leading Ethernet service providers, major incumbent local exchange carriers, top network equipment vendors and other prominent networking companies. For more information about the Forum, including a complete listing of all current MEF members, please visit the MEF web site at www.MetroEthernetForum.org.
