Europe Loves Carrier Ethernet

NEW YORK, May 17, 2006 – The rapid growth of carrier-class Ethernet data services is transforming the economic and technology underpinnings of telecom network services throughout Europe, according to a major new study released today by Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), the market research division of Light Reading Inc. (www.lightreading.com).

Ethernet Services Carrier Scorecard: Europe delivers a comprehensive analysis of Ethernet services now available in the European market. The report highlights key Ethernet services drivers, describes the types of Ethernet services offered, and provides analysis of Ethernet service deployment and delivery plans for 14 incumbent and alternative service providers, including BT, Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, France Telecom, Telefónica, and Verizon.

The 52-page report builds on Heavy Reading's previous coverage of the growing and dynamic carrier Ethernet sector, analyzing emerging services by the following criteria:

"As in other parts of the world, Europe's carrier data services market is shifting from traditional Frame Relay, ATM, and TDM leased lines toward next-generation Layer 2 Ethernet and Layer 3 IP VPN services, combined with value-added applications that run over the connections," notes Stan Hubbard, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of the report. "Faced with flat or declining legacy data services revenues, European operators are scrambling to capitalize on growing enterprise demand for Ethernet services and to shore up their portfolios for offensive and defensive purposes."

Other key findings of the report include:

European carriers have taken a wide range of steps to differentiate their Ethernet solutions in the face of intensifying competition around Layer 2 and 3 VPNs. These steps include: (1) increasing the variety of Ethernet connectivity services; (2) offering multiple geographical distance options; (3) providing connectivity in more markets; (4) extending service reach and coverage density within existing markets; (5) giving more choices in terms of service access on-ramps; (6) enhancing service performance and associated guarantees; (7) improving the customer experience via Web service portals; and (8) rolling out more value-added applications.

As operators take advantage of new access solutions and inter-carrier partnerships to extend Ethernet to more customer locations, it is increasingly evident that the next battleground will be in the value-added applications that run on top of the Ethernet connections. With next-gen carrier Ethernet equipment, it is now possible to control the performance characteristics of the Ethernet infrastructure on a per-application basis. This can be used to offer a richer set of applications, such as VOIP, access to IP VPNs, storage extension, and disaster recovery, over a single user network interface.

European operators are trying to limit investments in SDH and ATM technologies and are increasingly embracing carrier Ethernet and IP/MPLS to support many services and applications over a converged, packet-based network infrastructure. At a strategic level, operators are embracing carrier Ethernet because it provides a richer set of features and greater scaleability, flexibility, and simplicity at a lower cost. It can also save enterprise customers money by eliminating expensive WAN interfaces on their routers.

Ethernet Services Carrier Scorecard: Europe is published in PDF format and costs $3,795. The price includes an enterprise license covering all of the employees at the purchaser's company.

For more information, or to request a free executive summary, contact:

Dave Williams Sales Director, Heavy Reading 858-485-8870 [email protected]

Press/analyst contact:

Dennis Mendyk Managing Director, Heavy Reading 201-587-2154 [email protected]

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About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software.

About Light Reading
Reaching a core audience of more than 917,000 enterprise IT managers and executives, Light Reading Inc. publishes www.lightreading.com, the leading global content site for the telecom industry; www.byteandswitch.com, a storage networking site; www.unstrung.com, dedicated to wireless networking; and www.darkreading.com, an IT security site. Light Reading is also affiliated with www.heavyreading.com, a market research site offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to carriers, service providers, and vendors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.

About CMP Technology
CMP Technology (www.cmp.com) is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.