Comcast, Verizon Big Winners in Carrier Ethernet Awards

By Daniel Santa Cruz

Comcast Business and Verizon have Ethernet bragging rights for the next year.

The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has handed out its Carrier Ethernet Awards for the North America region. The awards recognize excellence and leadership in the development, marketing and delivery of carrier Ethernet business and wholesale services.

Comcast Business got the nod, beating out fellow finalists AT&T and Level 3, for best carrier Ethernet business application. This award recognizes partnerships between service providers and their clients in the delivery of Carrier Ethernet services for application verticals. Comcast won for MEF CE 2.0 certified services provided to the Denver Broncos pro football organization to meet their growing data demands and provide their fans with a more immersive experience.

Best Wholesale Ethernet Service went to Verizon. This is awarded to the service provider with the most robust wholesale service offering extending the reach of Ethernet services, including mobile backhaul and business Ethernet services. Verizon just beat out AT&T and Comcast for the honor.

Best Marketing went to Comcast Business, overcoming challenges from AT&T and Verizon. This award recognizes the service provider with the most successful marketing campaign to promote its Ethernet service portfolio from Sept. 2012 onward.

The Service Provider of the Year award went to Comcast Business. This award is based on the cumulative scores of the above three categories, plus ratings related to coverage, partnerships and access technologies for a provider that is headquartered in and offering Ethernet services primarily within the North America region. Comcast scored ahead of AT&T and Verizon.

“We had a real clash of Ethernet serice provider power players in this year’s North America Awards program,” said Nan Chen, president of MEF. “Congratulations to the winning teams at Comcast Business and Verizon for their recognized leadership of a diverse and competitive North American market that now includes more than 230 providers of Ethernet business and wholesale services.”

The judging panel for this year’s awards was comprised of senior analysts from IDC, Infonetics, Vertical Systems, Gartner, Frost & Sullivan and Ovum.