EANTC Completes Multi-Vendor Carrier Ethernet Interoperability Test, Presents Live Showcase at Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2006.

Multi-vendor Ethernet Fault Management (OAM) Verified First Time, Worldwide;

More Than 50 Systems of 16 Vendors Passed Service Performance Tests;

Detailed Test Report Published for Download

BERLIN -- The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) presents a live, multi-vendor interoperability showcase at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2006 (CEWC) this week. CEWC is the official conference of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) organized by IIR in Madrid, Spain, September 26-29, 2006. (http://www.carrierethernetworld.com)

Actelis Networks, ADVA Optical Networking, Alcatel, Ciena, Circadiant Systems, Corrigent Systems, Huawei Technologies, Ixia, Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Nortel, RAD Data Communications, Redback Networks, Stratex Networks, Telco Systems a BATM company and Tellabs participated in the test. In preparation for the Madrid showcase, all vendors took part in a hot-staging event at EANTC's lab in Berlin, Germany, two weeks ago.

The CEWC 2006 interoperability event verified multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet infrastructures offering business and residential services. Compared to the preceding event in 2005, this test was larger, explored major new MEF and IEEE standards for the first time, and implemented more advanced services in the test network. Equipment vendors verified real-world implementations of Carrier Ethernet standards and improved key interoperability aspects.

T-Systems attended the hot-staging event and conducted tests in the interoperability network together with EANTC. "The service performance of the test network was excellent, demonstrating interworking between various vendors," said Dr. Ralf-Peter Braun, Project Manager, Network Architecture, T-Systems. "We also observed vendor progress in the fault management (OAM) area with great interest. In Carrier Ethernet networks, OAM support is mandatory and interoperability is key to success in heterogeneous network environments."

"COLT has built a strong portfolio of carrier-class Ethernet services in Europe," said Dr. Alireza Mahmoodshahi, CTO at COLT. "We appreciate that Carrier Ethernet equipment suppliers are mindful of multi-vendor interoperability from the start, thus easing and accelerating our network integration. Technically advanced events like the EANTC test help to achieve this goal. Specifically, the successful integration of multiple transport technologies like SDH, wireless technologies, MPLS, and copper access strengthens end-to-end Carrier Ethernet services."

"Since our last multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet test event in 2005, vendors have worked to enhance and extend their solutions to a great extent," said Carsten Rossenhoevel, Managing Director of EANTC. "We were positively surprised to witness so many interoperable implementations of Ethernet in the First Mile (802.3ah), Ethernet link aggregation (802.3ad) for resilience, MPLS traffic engineering (DiffServ-TE) and even the pre-standard continuity checks as per CFM (802.1ag). EANTC will continue to assist vendors and service providers to further enhance Carrier Ethernet performance and interoperability."

A 16-page, detailed technical test report is available for download at http://www.eantc.com/cewc2006.

About EANTC

The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) offers vendor-neutral network test facilities for manufacturers, service providers, and enterprise customers. Primary business areas include interoperability, conformance, and performance testing for Ethernet in enterprise and service provider environments, Triple Play, MPLS / IP network technologies and applications. EANTC provides independent network-related services, consulting and seminars. For more information contact Carsten RossenhEvel, Managing Director, at +49.30.3180595-0 or via e-mail at [e-mail]. http://www.eantc.com

About IIR

IIR is the world's leading knowledge and skills transfer company with a global network of 47 companies and 112 operating units. IIR provides business executives with knowledge and skills through training, conferences, seminars, e-Learning, blended solutions, exhibitions, consulting and mentoring.

IIR's market leading Optical Transmission industry conference portfolio provides technical forums and networking opportunities for the industry in EMEA and globally. For more information, visit www.optical-transmission.com

About T-Systems

T-Systems is one of Europe's leading providers of information and communications technology (ICT). Within the Deutsche Telekom Group, T-Systems is responsible for supporting the business customer segment, ranging from medium-sized and large companies all the way up to multinational corporations and public institutions. T-Systems also operates Deutsche Telekom's global network, which links all the world's key business centers and allows T-Systems to provide international organizations with high-quality ICT services wherever they are based. The company has 52,000 employees in over 20 countries worldwide, and posted revenues of approximately [euro]12.9 billion in 2005.

For more information about the company and its services, see www.t-systems.com.

About COLT

COLT is a leading European provider of business communications. COLT specialises in providing data, voice and managed services to midsize and major businesses and wholesale customers. It has more than 50,000 customers across all industry sectors. COLT owns and operates a 13-country, 20,000km network that includes metropolitan area networks in 32 major European cities with direct fibre connections into 10,000 buildings and 14 COLT data centres. COLT Telecom Group S.A. is listed on the London Stock Exchange (COLT). Information about COLT and its services can be found at www.colt.net.

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