ANDA Networks Demonstrates Carrier Ethernet Capabilities for Operations, Administration & Maintenance.

ANDA and Soapstone Networks Demo End-to-End Carrier-Grade Service Provisioning and Restoration in Multi-Vendor Networks

LAS VEGAS -- Today, at NXTComm, ANDA Networks, the leader in carrier-class fiber and copper-based access network platforms, announced that its EtherReach[TM] 1000 Series Ethernet over Fiber Access platforms in conjunction with Soapstone Networks' (NASDAQ:SOAP) PNC[TM] Resource and Control framework will be highlighted in a live end-to-end service provisioning and restoration demonstration across a multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet network. The support for OAM features enable the EtherReach 1000 series platforms to provide fully protected circuits during maintenance and repair windows or in the event of link failures using G.8031 1:1 protection in times well under the 50ms standard.

"Customer satisfaction--both service provider and enterprise--is increased when restoration occurs without human intervention," notes Greg Gum, VP Marketing and Business Development, ANDA Networks. "However should there be a problem, and traffic is running on a back-up link the carrier needs to ensure that traffic will continue to be protected across their entire set of network elements non-intrusively. ANDA offers OAM capabilities, which not only give service providers standards based tools to detect problems such as 802.1ag/Y.1731 but more importantly eliminates operator intervention to ensure customer's SLAs are maintained during outages and repair intervals."

Soapstone Networks is demonstrating ANDA Networks' EtherReach 1000 fiber series of intelligent network termination equipment within its PNC[TM] (Provider Network Controller) system in a multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet based network comprised of ANDA Networks, Cisco Systems, Extreme Networks, Hammerhead Systems, Nortel, and Telco Systems switches. The demo also includes the Amdocs Cramer OSS which is performing service decomposition into resources, establishing Key Performance Indicator (KPI) metrics for resources, and passing complete resource description to the PNC using NGOSS contract. Utilizing the NGOSS contract, the Soapstone PNC identifies the appropriate network resources and provisions the network resources to implement the NGOSS contract, the PNC maintains both availability and performance metrics for resources and communicates to network resources through standard management interfaces.

ANDA Networks is part of the Soapstone Networks Alliance Partner Program (SNAPP[TM]). Soapstone is working with the world's leading Carrier Ethernet hardware and software vendors to enable service providers to rapidly introduce new services with standards based integration from OSS to multi-vendor transport networks. Soapstone is showcasing ANDA's products in its live demonstration at NXTComm, Booth SU 8710.

"Our goal is to accelerate adoption of Carrier Ethernet 2.0 capabilities by helping to automate the entire service process flow from the carrier's OSS through provisioning and integration into their multivendor based networks," notes Esmeralda Swartz, SVP Marketing and Business Development at Soapstone Networks. "By working with ANDA Networks, we are able to extend key carrier based features such as Ethernet OAM, all the way to the customer's premise, which is exactly what our customers need to ensure SLAs are being met."

ANDA Networks' OAM capabilities not only include existing standards based 802.1ag, 802.3ah, and Y.1731 support but also these new advanced operator focused OAM features. Working with strategic partners such as Soapstone Networks, ANDA ensures carriers that end-to-end OAM interoperability and OSS service order flow are not barriers to new service deployment. The culmination of these new capabilities give service providers the tools to provision and bill end-to-end protected services within minutes rather than weeks to enable new Carrier Ethernet 2.0 based networks.

About ANDA Networks

ANDA Networks, Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, provides carrier-class Ethernet platforms delivering cost-effective Metro Ethernet services over fiber, copper and wireless access networks worldwide. Over 15,000 platforms deployed on several tier-one carriers' networks globally, ANDA's Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) certified access products allow carriers to solve bandwidth and functionality limits, effectively facilitating migration to next-generation network services. The ANDA EtherTone[R] family of products enable carriers to deliver Ethernet private lines, converged VoIP, and circuit-to-packet managed services by leveraging highly economical Ethernet technology. For more information, please visit http://www.andanetworks.com.

ANDA, EtherView, EtherTone, EtherEdge, EtherReach and EtherSLAM are registered trademarks or trademarks of ANDA Networks. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.