ITU and MEF have concluded an agreement to advance the worldwide development and deployment of emerging connectivity services – designed to be agile, assured, and orchestrated – in addition to standardized CE 2.0 (Carrier Ethernet) services. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Director of the ITU Standardization Bureau Chaesub Lee and MEF President Nan Chen on the eve of the opening of ITU Telecom World 2015 in Budapest. The agreement focuses on opportunities for mutual standards referencing CE 2.0 and LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration), standards compliance/certification and global education as well as alignment in emerging areas, such as trust in the information society, orchestration and virtualization, as well as 5G Cloud Access. Areas of cooperation include:
“This renewed commitment to cooperation between ITU and MEF is a very welcome development,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “MEF offers valuable support to ITU’s standardization of Carrier Ethernet, assuring the ICT industry that well-coordinated standards development will drive the evolution of Carrier Ethernet and the emergence of integrated fixed-mobile hybrid 5G networks.” Nan Chen, President of the MEF, said, “MEF’s concept of ‘The Third Network’ – with agile, assured and orchestrated services enabled by LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) – describes a vision for the development and deployment of connectivity services necessary to build infrastructure which can be leveraged for economic opportunities that a hyper-connected world provides. Alongside ITU-T, the MEF is defining the technologies that effectively makes for a level playing field, bridges the standardization gaps, and fosters opportunities for everyone to participate in the digital economy.” “We see standardized Carrier Ethernet and standardized connectivity as a strong basis on which ITU Member States can build a large part of their sustainable economic growth over the coming decades,” said Chaesub Lee, Director of ITU’s Standardization Bureau. “Rapidly emerging requirements in the arenas of digital trust, Internet of Things, 5G and virtualization will be better met through rapid alignment between ITU-T and the MEF, and this in turn will translate into immediate benefits for the ITU-T membership along with more effective long-term standardization." |