JUNE 6, 2007 -- Seven of the world's largest telecommunications companies have united under the banner of the Optical Internetworking Forum (search for OIF) to showcase multi-vendor interoperability in a multi-carrier environment during the OIF's Worldwide Interoperability Demonstration--On-Demand Ethernet Services.
OIF member companies AT&T, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom Group, KDDI, Telecom Italia, and Verizon will host participating network equipment vendors during interoperability testing June through August 2007.
According to the OIF, the demonstration will highlight dynamic Ethernet services over multiple, control plane-enabled intelligent optical core networks, made possible by the OIF UNI and E-NNI, including:
"Collaboration among the world's most important network operators is a hallmark of the OIF's Worldwide Interoperability Demonstration," contends Hans-Martin Foisel, of Deutsche Telekom, OIF Carrier Working Group chair and vice president. "The OIF pioneered the concept of live global testing, and this event exemplifies the benefits of membership in the Forum. The outcome of the tests and demonstrations will benefit the entire industry," he adds.
The first phase of the event will emphasize interoperability testing among vendors within a carrier's lab. The second phase of the testing will connect carrier labs by region, and, finally, each of the participating service providers will be connected as part of the global test network topology.
Combining the service providers' private testing and a public demonstration, OIF's 2007 Worldwide Interoperability Demonstration--On-Demand Ethernet Services is based upon intra-lab testing at each of the participating carrier sites. The test sites will be linked via virtual or real E-NNI connections to form a global test network topology. The event will enable vendors to test with more vendor implementations and allow carriers to access additional network resources beyond the boundary of their existing networks on a global scale, say OIF representatives.
The 2007 OIF Worldwide Interoperability Demonstration--On-Demand Ethernet Services will culminate in a public demonstration of the results at ECOC 2007, to be held September 17-19, 2007, in Berlin, Germany.