Network specialist Ciena Corporation is listed among the first technology vendors to complete the Metro Ethernet Forum (News - Alert) (MEF) Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE2.0) certification program and receive certification for its packet networking platforms.

CE2.0 is the MEF’s designation for its second generation of service standards. Being a long-time MEF (News - Alert)-certified vendor, Ciena now adds CE2.0 compliance, which brings significant value-added benefits and matches the enterprise users’ application performance needs to MEF services with specific SLAs.

This will accelerate global deployment and optimization of bandwidth use and costs.

CE2.0 is important to the future of Carrier Ethernet because it further standardizes how service providers work together, which will assure better interoperability, more effective partnerships and better overall service for customers.

To be among the first recipients of CE2.0 certifications, Ciena passed a comprehensive set of test cases that ensure interoperability in a multi-vendor network environment. The achievement of MEF CE2.0 certification validates that Ciena’s packet networking platforms provide customers the ability to build open, programmable next-generation networks that can scale and adapt to deliver new services.

“For network operators, the Carrier Ethernet services market is increasingly competitive, and the ability to quickly and easily deploy next-generation technology and turn up new services is critical. By offering ‘built for speed’ packet networking platforms that are CE2.0 certified, we are giving our service provider customers a standards-based solution that allows them to differentiate and improve the customer experience faster than the competition, as well as the assurance that our technology is pre-tested to perform in their diverse network environments,”   Rick Dodd, senior vice president of global marketing at Ciena, said in a statement.

Ciena’s CE2.0-certified platforms can be deployed in a multi-vendor network environment and help expand its service footprint and provide innovative service offerings, mobile backhaul, business services and cloud applications

CE2.0-certified platforms are well suited to enterprise applications such as data center interconnect, data center access, transparent LAN, and Internet access. The organization has been awarded CE2.0 certification for six services, each on its 3916 and 3930 Service Delivery Switches, and its 5150 Service Aggregation Switch.

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