AT&T Named MEF Service Provider of the Year

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* has been recognized with the coveted 2010 "Service Provider of the Year" award by the MEF for Carrier Ethernet services in North America. The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) is a global industry alliance comprising more than 170 organizations including telecommunications service providers, cable multiple system operators (MSOs), network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductors vendors and testing organizations.

AT&T was named North America Service Provider of the Year, a distinction awarded to the provider with the highest cumulative score for all categories and an additional score for service coverage. AT&T was also selected as the winner of the Best Business Ethernet Service award for providing the most unique and innovative Business Ethernet Service to enterprise customers within the areas it serves.

"Carrier Ethernet is rapidly being adopted by customers for a wide range of mission critical business applications," said Nan Chen, MEF President. "Our industry analyst judging panel selected AT&T for its leadership, innovation and comprehensive portfolio of Ethernet services."

"We are honored to be recognized by the MEF as Service Provider of the Year and for the Best Business Ethernet Service," said S. Dale McHenry, vice president, Enterprise Networking. "These awards further validate our innovative ability and continued commitment to deliver Carrier Ethernet services, with the simplicity, savings and scalability that our customers demand and which the industry expects of AT&T as the leader."  

AT&T provides a comprehensive suite of Ethernet services with highly reliable and easily scalable services for local, metro or wide area networking requirements with bandwidth speeds ranging from 2 Mbps to 10Gbps.  AT&T leads the industry with integrated solutions and a portfolio of networking services to provide either a turnkey approach or an integrated suite of customer managed services.

The MEF annual Carrier Ethernet Service Provider Awards recognize excellence and leadership in the development, marketing and delivery of Carrier Ethernet services. The awards are determined by a judging panel comprised of up to 5 global and regional analysts, who are asked to rate and score each of the submissions relating to each award category. The winner of each category is the service provider with the highest combined score of all judges.

The MEF Carrier Ethernet Service Provider Awards for North America – 2010, were announced at a service provider dinner in New York, held in conjunction with the MEF's participation at the Light Reading Ethernet Expo on November 2, 2010.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About The MEF

The MEF is a global industry alliance comprising more than 170 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/

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE® magazine. 

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.