MEF Announces 2007 Winners of North American Carrier Ethernet Service Provider of the Year Awards

The MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) is proud to announce the winners
for their third "North American Carrier Ethernet Service Provider of
the Year" awards. Verizon received the "Carrier Ethernet Service
Provider of the Year - National Category" award and Optimum Lightpath
received the "Carrier Ethernet Service Provider of the Year - Regional
Category" award today at the MEF booth NxtComm, Chicago.

Also featuring on the MEF booth was the presentation of the latest
round of MEF certifications, including the world's first ever service
provider certification for service quality and performance compliant
with MEF 14, and the announcement of the MEF's first "Carrier Ethernet
for Business World Tour".

"Please join me in congratulating Verizon and Optimum Lightpath
for their outstanding achievement in accelerating deployment of
Carrier Ethernet networks and services" commented Nan Chen, President
of the Metro Ethernet Forum. "Their commitment to Carrier Ethernet has
elevated market awareness and worldwide development of Carrier
Ethernet. The MEF's Carrier Ethernet for Business world tour takes up
that theme, and today's MEF 14 certifications for service performance
prove that Carrier Ethernet is here and ready for prime time."

Finalists for the awards included: AT&T, Qwest, Masergy, Optimum
Lightpath, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, XO and Yipes. The judging panel
- including analysts from Current Analysis, Forrester Research. IDC,
Infonetics Research, Heavy Reading and Yankee Group - singled out
Verizon for the National award with AT&T in the second place. Verizon
scored highly in all areas - service innovation, service coverage,
market penetration, leadership, participation and case studies. The
Regional award was a very close run race between Optimum Lightpath and
Time Warner Cable. Optimum Lightpath were singled out by several
judges for its service innovation, and a consistent showing for market
penetration plus good case studies and so edging into the lead.

The Carrier Ethernet for Business World Tour announced today in
conjunction with Network World invites business users to find out
about

the Carrier Ethernet services revolution in telecommunications - a
revolution that is already happening among carriers and cable MSOs,
but whose effects on business are only just beginning to be felt. The
North America schedule for the tour includes: New York, September 17th
at the Grand Hyatt; Toronto, September 20th at the Metro Toronto
Convention Center; Los Angeles, October 9th at Doubletree Santa Ana;
and Chicago, October 11th at the Palmer House Hilton.

Further details on the US, European and Asian Awards, this year's
winners, and full details of the "Carrier Ethernet for Business World
Tour" are available on the MEF website at www.metroethernetforum.org.

About the MEF

The MEF is a global industry alliance comprising more than 120
organizations including telecommunications service providers, cable
MSOs, network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductors vendors
and testing organizations. The MEF's mission is to accelerate the
worldwide adoption of Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services.
The MEF develops Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and
implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment
of Carrier Ethernet worldwide.

For more information about the Forum, including a complete listing
of all current MEF members, please visit the MEF web site at
http://www.MetroEthernetForum.org/.