Broadband Forum Union With IP/MPLS Forum Establishes the Central Body for Next Generation...

Broadband Forum Union With IP/MPLS Forum Establishes the Central Body for Next
Generation Packet Network Specifications

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A powerful new worldwide organisation
has been created today by the union of the Broadband Forum and the IP/MPLS
Forum. These two organisations bring together the industry experts who have,
until now, looked at the evolving broadband network from different ends of the
network. With this union, the core and access aggregation work of the IP/MPLS
Forum will seamlessly blend and strengthen the local transport and digital
home management specifications of the Broadband Forum.

United under the Broadband Forum name, the new organisation, comprising an
enlarged 220 strong membership of most of the world's leading service
providers, equipment manufacturers, chip vendors and industry bodies, will
play an increasingly influential role in defining interoperable network
equipment for local broadband access, advancing mobile backhaul solutions as
well as empowering the next wave of business services, IPTV, gaming and other
applications as they arise.

"Both organisations have played an important and highly valued role as the
world has grown into the broadband-rich society we enjoy today. Now, together,
we can help guide the industry forward across an ever-widening range of
technologies and applications," said Broadband Forum Chairman and President
George Dobrowski.

"We are very excited by the prospects created by this union of two long
standing and well respected specification bodies and our dedicated teams are
already working well together as we begin to put the new organisation into
action."

The union follows an industry analysis undertaken by the IP/MPLS Forum Board
last year, which concluded that convergence was the key to the future success
of standards specifications work. It then focused on how its work aligned with
other organisations and when, in June 2008, the former DSL Forum became the
Broadband Forum - with a focus on convergence and technology agnostic
solutions - it appeared that many gaps towards empowering a stronger
end-to-end multiservice architecture could be filled by bringing the two
organisations together.

"I am tremendously proud of what the IP/MPLS Forum has achieved in its 18-year
history and also proud of the fact that we recognised and addressed the need
to follow technology convergence by uniting with the Broadband Forum for the
overall benefit of the industry itself," said IP/MPLS Forum Chairman and
President Andrew G. Malis.

"The Broadband Forum stood out clearly as the strongest candidate for us and
today's union will see our legacy, our expertise and our membership move into
a new era - once again for the benefit of the industry we all look to serve."

The newly combined Broadband Forum is meeting this week in Valencia, Spain.
There will be three main changes to the organisation. These are:
-- In the Technical Committee area, a new IP/MPLS and Core working group
will be established to continue the MPLS protocol work and to address
all new Core related work brought into the Forum
-- In the Marketing Committee area, a new IP/MPLS focused Vice Chair will
be added and new IP/MPLS Ambassadors will be available to represent
the
organisation via the speakers' bureau

-- A combined Board of Directors will be established to oversee the
transition. George Dobrowski will continue on as President and Andrew
G. Malis has been named Vice President.

Today's announcement comes as broadband deployment continues healthy growth
around the world, despite the current economic challenges across all industry
sectors. More than 410 million users now enjoy the benefits of broadband and
the union of the two organisations will only help sustain this momentum, as
well as open up new opportunities.

"As well as strengthening our global stance in the standards community
generally, we will have more resources, wider expertise and the ability to
make rapid strides in areas such as defining seamless end-to-end
specifications, fostering greater interoperability, delivering enhanced
Quality of Experience measurement, enabling greater mobile backhaul
capabilities and supporting residential and business services," Dobrowski
added.

"For our members, their involvement will bring them even greater membership
value and they will have the opportunity to play an influential role in how
the networks of the future evolve."

INDUSTRY LEADERS SUPPORT THIS UNION

"This union, of the Broadband Forum and the IP/MPLS Forum, means we will all
benefit from a greater end-to-end approach for network and protocol
standardisation, and that includes end-to-end performance, interoperability,
architecture and protocols. This is good news for the bodies concerned and the
industry as a whole."
Kevin Foster, Head of Wireline Access, BT

"Ericsson sees this merger as an importantstep in the industry pursuit of
network convergence, including fixed - mobile convergence. Together the
IP/MPLS Forum and the Broadband Forum organizations provide a single venue
with the expertise and capability to drive next generation network solutions
used for home, business and infrastructure."
Erik Ekudden, Vice President - Technology and Industry for Ericsson

"OPASTCO is pleased to see the union of the Broadband and IP/MPLS Forums.
Combining the two forums will provide a tremendous opportunity for OPASTCO
members to develop and obtain technical resources to create IP environments in
rural North America."
Ronald Laudner, Jr., Second Vice Chairman, Organization for the Promotion and
Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies (OPASTCO)

"We are very enthusiastic to see the industry defragmenting. This union will
allow better efficiency and coherence for some key topics for this industry
such as transport equipments interoperability, mobile backhauling, access and
core networks integration. We believe this union will provide better
architectural view on the evolution of networks. Such a move reinforces the
key position of the Broadband Forum to deliver end to end solutions for fixed
broadband networks,"
Philippe Lucas, VP International Standards and Industry Relationship for
Orange

"Verizon has been an active contributing member of both organisations, and we
applaud this decision to unite. As broadband convergence continues, the
Broadband Forum will be a key organization to ensure providers' needs are met
with a holistic end-to-end perspective, ensuring no gaps in critical network
specifications. We look forward to continuing to provide technical expertise
and leadership to this organization."
Stu Elby, VP Network Architecture, Verizon Communications

"The union of the Broadband Forum and IP/MPLS Forum is an important milestone
in bringing together experts from across the industry to collaborate on
specifications that will accelerate fixed and mobile network convergence and
enable a broad range of advanced business and consumer services.
Alcatel-Lucent will continue to provide leadership and technical expertise in
support of the Broadband Forum's work in the coming years."
Basil Alwan, President IP Division and Leader, Carrier Portfolio Strategy,
Alcatel-Lucent

For further information about the newly united Broadband Forum, visit
www.broadband-forum.org.

For further information please contact Chrissie Walker or Brian Dolby on +44
(0) 115 948 6901 or by email to chrissie@bcspr.co.uk or brian@bcspr.co.uk.

About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of broadband.
With the recent union with the IP/MPLS Forum, the Broadband Forum is now the
central body for next generation IP network specifications. This organization,
comprising an enlarged 220 strong membership of most of the world's leading
service providers, equipment manufacturers, chip vendors and other key
organizations, defines and facilitates next generation networks for local
broadband access, mobile backhaul, business services, IPTV, gaming and other
applications, and is poised to address further developments as they arise.
The Broadband Forum's formal BroadbandSuite(TM) Release Program, Technical
Reports and specifications are publicly available at www.broadband-forum.org.

SOURCE The Broadband Forum

Chrissie Walker or Brian Dolby, +44 (0) 115 948 6901, chrissie@bcspr.co.uk,
brian@bcspr.co.uk, both for The Broadband Forum