LR Lauds Leading Ethernet Providers

NEW YORK -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the world's leading online publication for the telecom industry, and Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), its prestigious market research division, today announce their finalists for 2006 Ethernet Service Provider of the Year for North America.

Over the past year, Heavy Reading has examined and interviewed dozens of North American operators that provide Ethernet connectivity services and Ethernet-based applications. "We have not found a service provider yet that does not have a good story to tell about the growth opportunities for Ethernet", states Stan Hubbard, Ethernet Expo 2006 Conference Chair and Heavy Reading Senior Analyst.

Hubbard goes on to say that the market "is on fire with investment in new service and network innovations that are transforming the enterprise data services landscape and enabling support for a wide variety of mission-critical and non-mission critical applications."

While Heavy Reading found inspiring change taking place throughout the market, a few carriers stood out against the competition within each category:

Finalists in each category will have a chance to confirm their devotion for Ethernet enhancement during the Ethernet Expo 2006 in New York City.

Registration for Press and Analysts is free. To register, go to www.ethernetexpo.com and enter the promo code: PRESS

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Contact:
Amy Averbook
Director of Marketing
Light Reading Inc.
[email protected] 212-925-0020 x112

About Ethernet Expo 2006
Ethernet Expo 2006 is being held on October 23-25 at the Hilton New York. A combined conference and exhibition focused on Ethernet's evolution as an enabler of next-generation enterprise and consumer services and applications, the Ethernet Expo series has emerged as the best-attended Ethernet event in the industry.

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com) 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 Inc.
Founded in 2000, Light Reading Inc. (www.lightreading.coms the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. It reaches an extensive audience of executives and technologists within the telecom and enterprise networking communities, as well as the financial/industry analysts and investors who track these sectors. 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.