The Metro Ethernet Forum (News - Alert) (MEF) once said it best – there is no excuse not to have Carrier Ethernet anymore.

The MEF is a global industry alliance made up of telecoms, MSOs and equipment/software manufacturers with an end goal to further the worldwide adaption of Metro Ethernet. They accomplish their goal by proliferating technical specs and implementation agreements -- all to promote the interoperability of Ethernet networks on a worldwide scale.

According to Mark Whalley, co-chair of MEF’s (News - Alert) marketing committee, “Carrier Ethernet services are proving highly popular, both with end users and service providers. We now want to ensure one hundred percent reach-ability via any existing access medium. We are determined to deliver the full benefits ofEthernet services by opening access to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

A few years ago, he predicted, “By 2010 there should be no excuse for not delivering Carrier Ethernet services to every office, every home and to mobile users too.”

This sort of evolutionary pathway is important to consider, especially when factoring in the importance of organizations such as the MEF. History repeats itself, after all and Metro Ethernet has continuously evolved over time to take on new and exciting forms.

Bob Metcalfe (who sits as advisory director to the MEF), has shared some of his thoughts on the evolution of Ethernet. He said, “People too often associate Ethernet just with cables. They forget that Ethernet was derived in 1973 from Alohanet packet radio. We decided back then not to call it something like Coaxnet. We imagined that Ethernet media - ethers -- would proliferate and evolve, and indeed they have over 33 years. Ethernet has evolved from thick baseband coax, to thin coax, to telephone pairs, to television broadband cable, to powerline, to lambdas on optical fibers, and all the way back home to Alohanet wireless. Modern wireless Ethernet is now called WiFi (News - Alert). In parallel, Ethernet has evolved from a local- area network (LAN) to a wide-area network (WAN) and most recently, thanks to the MEF, to Carrier Ethernet -- access services using many media."

So, now that we’re in 2010 – do you think Carrier Ethernet everywhere? It’s a hard to debate without hard statistical evidence, but organizations like the MEF have continued to thrive – so it is a good indicator for the future.