NEW YORK -- Ethernet Expo 2012 -- The MEF is to unveil the first wave of network equipment compliant with its Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE 2.0) specifications in January 2013 following what the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)'s president Nan Chen described a "more rigorous" testing process.

That will be swiftly followed a few months later with the first CE 2.0-certified services, with the identity of the service providers involved to be unveiled at the Ethernet Europe 2013 event in Frankfurt in April.

The MEF believes this process is important for the industry as it provides greater visibility and pre-qualified assurance for network operators buying equipment and for enterprises buying services.

The MEF unveiled its CE 2.0 initiative, which focuses on improving inter-operator Ethernet service interconnection, in February 2012. (See MEF Sticks a '2.0' on Carrier Ethernet and Operators Like CE 2.0 – So Far.)

The equipment certification process, which (somewhat controversially) is undertaken by just one lab, Iometrix Inc., involves 690 tests, stated Chen during a presentation on the first day of Ethernet Expo. Very few products had passed first time, with most equipment needing software tweaks, he said.

CE 2.0 certification has been "tightened up" compared with the process undertaken for certification against the MEF 9.0 and 14 specifications, now referred to as CE 1.0. About 160 companies have equipment and services that are CE 1.0 certified. (See Intracom's Backhaul Gets Certified, Telstra's Ethernet Gets Certified and Telco Systems Announces Certifications.)

For all our coverage from the New York event, see our Ethernet Expo 2012 show site.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading