Vertical Systems Group Releases Carrier Ethernet Rankings

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Vertical Systems Group today released its influential rankings of Carrier Ethernet providers. The top tier carriers, from top to number nine, are AT&T, Level 3, Verizon, CenturyLink, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, XO and Windstream. The next tier (the “challengers”) are Bright House, Charter, Cogent, Lightpath and Zayo.

VSG said that the market grew more than 20 percent in 2015, though most of the gain was during the first half of the year. The carriers told the analysts that during the year ahead the top aim is to increase speeds and that the most important competitive goal is gaining the Metro Ethernet Forum’s CE 2.0 certification.

The one newcomer to the top list offered by VSG – the company that moved from Challenger to the top tier — was Windstream. The firm also made news last year by achieving MEF 2.0 certification. Windstream said that the importance of certification is that it validates its ability to seamlessly fit into larger networking schemes:

By achieving the MEF CE 2.0 certification, Windstream’s customers have the confidence that E-Access services have been stringently tested and are compliant with the latest MEF specifications. Windstream meets or exceeds all requirements that customers have for MEF CE 2.0 service levels, class of service requirements, as well as improved interoperability with customer networks.

RAD also won MEF 2.0 certification for MiNID, which is part of its Service Assured Access portfolio for service providers. MiNID is essentially a key enabler:

With this certification, operators can now instantly upgrade their infrastructure to support premium Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certified offerings for business, mobile backhaul and wholesale services without expensive investments in network forklifts.

The company emphasized the performance monitoring capabilities of MiNID. Carrier Ethernet implementations are subject to demanding service level agreements (SLAs). Performance monitoring equipment is a key element of fulling these SLAs.

Last month, FierceTelecom reported that Charter has gotten MEF 2.0 certification. The cable operator is in the process of acquiring Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. If completed, the enlarged MSO will be MEF 2.0-compliant across its entire footprint.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at cweinsch@optonline.net and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.