Tata Communications' Global Priority Ethernet Services are Now MEF 9 and MEF 14 Certified

Priority Ethernet Services Connecting India, APAC, US and Europe Certified by Global Industry Alliance

MUMBAI, India, October 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, announced that its Priority Ethernet services are now certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) as conforming to the MEF 9 and MEF 14 specifications. This complements the already MEF certified Global Dedicated Ethernet Services, introduced by Tata Communications in 2006 and certified since 2007.

The Metro Ethernet Forum is a non-profit global industry alliance, comprised of over 155 of the world's leading service providers and network equipment vendors. It develops technical specifications and implementation agreements to ensure interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet services worldwide. MEF Certification is highly regarded as a quality assurance symbol, having been attained by passing numerous compliance tests, conducted by Iometrix, the MEF approved certification test laboratory.

"Tata Communications holds the distinction of being the first global provider who earned the MEF 9 and MEF14 certifications for its leading Global Dedicated Ethernet Services, and now the certification of our Priority services shows our commitment to continuously enrich our offerings, deliver quality services to our customers and lead the Ethernet evolution" said Genius Wong, Senior Vice President, Global IP and VPN services.

MEF 14 ensures that the latency, jitter and packet loss performance of the services conforms to the rigorous MEF standards, while MEF 9 ensures the conditions required for delivery of services have specific Ethernet User Network Interface (UNI) and Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) service attributes. MEF 14 is also the first industry certification to include performance criteria, which helps to raise the bar on carriers' services performance. "The MEF welcomes the commitment being made by companies such as TATA Communications to it certification program," stated Nan Chen, MEF President. "Service providers across the globe have embraced MEF standards to deliver reliable, high quality and technically consistent Ethernet services to their customer base" he added.

Added Wong: "The certifications are of high significance to us, to assure our customers of seamless secure solutions, which adhere to highest industry standards."

"The fact that Tata Communications' Priority Ethernet Services are now MEF 9 & 14 certified independently endorses successful Carrier Ethernet performance following stringent testing by a third party," said Joel Stradling, Senior Analyst at Current Analysis. "Global reach and the new MEF certifications differentiate Tata Communications' message in the international marketplace, and looking forward the operator is in a good position to augment reach with more consistent and standardized Ethernet Network-to-Network Interfaces (E-NNIs) by working within MEF guidelines. E-NNIs are critical for Ethernet services as they establish a common language to bridge boundaries between different carriers."

Tata Communications' Global Priority Ethernet Services span over five continents: North America, Asia, Europe and Middle East and more than 120 cities across India, provides dedicated and cost-effective carrier Ethernet solutions seamlessly and securely. The Service, featured with a choice of configurations, bandwidth granularities, up-to four Classes of Service with interclass bursting, provides a high quality, scalable and cost effective Ethernet solution through out India and on a global scale.

For more details about Tata Communications' WAN Ethernet service, visit http://www.tatacommunications.com/enterprise/network/ethernet.asp

Read about other recent Tata Communications' Ethernet service enhancements: http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/release-view.asp?d=20090910-chinaWAN

Tata Communications Launches Global 10 Gigabit Ethernet Service (http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/release-view.asp?d=20090721-10gigE)

Etisalat & Tata Communications introduce advanced communication services in UAE ( http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/release-view.asp?d=20090302-etisalat)

Qtel and Tata Communications Collaborate to Offer Global Connectivity Services (http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/files/20090608-qtel.htm)

Learn more about Tata Communications Ethernet strategy for Emerging Markets:

http://www.tatacommunications.com/broadcast/newsletter/emea/podcast.asp

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications' depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications)

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. ( TCL)

http://www.tatacommunications.com

About Metro Ethernet Forum

The MEF is a global industry alliance comprising more than 155 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/

Forward-looking and cautionary statements

Certain words and statements in this release concerning Tata Communications and its prospects, and other statements, including those relating to Tata Communications' expected financial position, business strategy, the future development of Tata Communications' operations, and the general economy in India, are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including financial, regulatory and environmental, as well as those relating to industry growth and trend projections, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Tata Communications, or industry results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, among others, failure to increase the volume of traffic on Tata Communications' network; failure to develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; failure to successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; failure to stabilize or reduce the rate of price compression on certain of the company's communications services; failure to integrate strategic acquisitions and changes in government policies or regulations of India and, in particular, changes relating to the administration of Tata Communications' industry; and, in general, the economic, business and credit conditions in India. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, many of which are not in Tata Communications' control, include, but are not limited to, those risk factors discussed in Tata Communications' various filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Tata Communications is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, updates or alters its forward-looking statements.

    Media Contacts:

    Janice Goveas
    Tata Communications
    +91-92233-94575
    Janice.Goveas@tatacommunications.com

    David Chin
    Hill & Knowlton Singapore for Tata Communications
    +65-6390-3347
    david.chin@hillandknowlton.com.sg

SOURCE Tata Communications Limited