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Ciena Corporation has announced that its CN 5060 Multiservice Carrier Ethernet Platform has earned Carrier Ethernet certification from the Metro Ethernet Forum (News - Alert) (MEF).

The CN 5060, with Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture, enables cost-effective transition of metro and edge aggregation networks to converged and optimized IP/Ethernet service delivery infrastructures.

The Carrier Ethernet Certification Program of the MEF allows for faster implementation of Carrier Ethernet services by greatly reducing time. The cost of equipment testing is also brought down besides offering end users consistent reliable services for different service providers and network equipment.

The MEF actually develops Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements to make interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet possible throughout the world.

Iometrix (News - Alert) tested Ciena’s CN 5060 according to MEF-approved “Test Plan for Ethernet Services at the UNI,” and Ciena received MEF 9 Service and MEF 14 Traffic Management certification.

Steve Alexander, CTO of Ciena, said in a press release, “As a Charter Member of the MEF, we share the belief that certification enables our customers to accelerate decision-making and deployment considerations for Carrier Ethernet networks and services.”

Alexander pointed out that service flexibility, high reliability and delivery cost reductions were important requirements for network operators in order to show differentiation in services. Further MEF certification enhances the CN 5060’s ability for delivering the requirements and also extends the platform’s reputation for reliability and pseudowire support for high-performance business services, wireless backhaul and broadband aggregation.

Other products from Ciena, including the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform and CN 3000 Ethernet Access Service, have also been given the MEF compliance certification.

The CN 5060 being an offering from CN 5000 Packet Services Series is based on carrier-class packet switching technology. It can deliver MEF-compliant services, Advanced Ethernet Internetworking for Layer 2 services besides MPLS functionality and support for TDM capabilities. This enables service providers to deliver services on performance-grade converged Ethernet infrastructure, said Ciena.

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Shamila Janakiraman is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

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