Alaska Communications gets CE 2.0 certification nod from MEF

Alaska Communications is now the second U.S.-based service provider to achieve the Metro Ethernet Forum's (MEF) Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification.

Following Comcast Business (Nasdaq: CMCSA) in the United States and Telstra Wholesale in Australia, Alaska Communications is the third service provider in the world to have their services certified under the new MEF standard.

CE 2.0 incorporates a number of new features including multiple Classes of Service and an easier interconnection process for eight standard service types, in addition to enabling efficiencies in mobile backhaul applications.

While CE 1.0 only defined three services, MEF's CE 2.0 spec provides specifications for eight services, including two of each respectively in E-Line, E-LAN, E-Tree, and E-Access.

By gaining CE 2.0 certification, Alaska Communications can provide clarity for their wholesale customers.

Customers that need to purchase off-net connections to fulfill a multisite business customer request will know that the telco has a clear set of methods in addition to set Class of Service (CoS) and Quality of Service (QoS) for their Ethernet services.   

Ethernet has become a growing piece of Alaska Communications' business service portfolio. Currently, the telco offers Ethernet service in 14 communities.

Despite seeing the inevitable drop in business access lines in Q4 2012, business broadband connections, including Ethernet, increased to 19,202 from 19,063, while business broadband ARPU increased to $153.59 from $150.58. Overall business and wholesale revenue increased by $3.7 million, or 14.0 percent.

For more:
- see the release

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Related articles:
Telstra Wholesale joins the Carrier Ethernet 2.0 club
Comcast Business gets MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification
MEF certifies 20 vendors under CE 2.0 specification