In the battle to claim bragging rights in the important Carrier Ethernet interconnect services market, CENX Inc. says its Carrier Ethernet exchange now manages interconnect agreements that cover a total of 10 million end points, a significant milestone for a relatively new company.

CENX founder and Carrier Ethernet figurehead Nan Chen says the exchange is now the industry's largest, and, most significantly, can fuel further Ethernet services growth by enabling operators to offer more rapid end-to-end Ethernet services without the complications of one-to-one interconnection. (See CENX Takes Ethernet to Europe and CENX Gives Voice to Ethernet Exchange.)

"The number of end points is important. You could go back all the way to Metcalfe's Law, which says that the value of a telecom network is proportional to the square of the number of connected devices or locations," Chen said. "If you consider the exchange a telecom network, then its value is directly proportional to the number of end-point locations, rather than the number of carriers, since some [carriers] are big and some are small."

"This milestone is a real yardstick on our value," he added, excitedly.

CENX's rivals, such as Equinix Inc., might debate whose business is bigger, and which metrics matter, but the value to the overall industry of expanding the reach of Ethernet is unquestionable. (See Ethernet Europe: Interconnect Woes Put to Bed and Ethernet Exchange of Blows.)

"Exchanges have the potential to accelerate Carrier Ethernet service adoption by making it much easier to identify serviceable locations and speeding service delivery to those locations in markets all around the world," said Stan Hubbard, senior analyst at Heavy Reading, in a prepared statement for CENX. "Tracking the number of site connections is a good way to measure the relevancy of an exchange and to monitor the intensity of competition within particular markets," he added.

CENX made its formal debut in November 2009, after months of speculation. (See Ethernet Gets a CENX View.)

The company offers Ethernet peering interconnections, and a Web interface that enables sellers and buyers of Ethernet services to see what is available. Since its formal launch, CENX's announced customers include Verizon Business, Level 3 Communications Inc., XO Communications Inc., and Covad Communications Inc.. (See Verizon Boosts Biz With CENX Connection and CENX Signs Up Covad.)

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading