A global provider of networking infrastructure, ECI Telecom, announced today the 9000 Family of Carrier Ethernet products for metro transport and service delivery. ECI enables operators, with the 9000 Family, to transform their metro infrastructure to efficiently support the latest Ethernet and IP services. The 9000 Family is at the core of ECI's new architectural framework - ECI 1Net, also announced today.

The 9000 Family includes two product Series. The 9700 Series of Carrier Ethernet switch routers was designed to meet the requirements of metropolitan core networks where density, performance and quality-of-service are critical, and the 9200 Series targeting the edge of the metropolitan network where cost optimization, form factor and service aggregation really count.

End-to-end, point-and-click provisioning and network management is a key requirement of carriers worldwide. ECI's vast experience in transport networking allows the company to radically simplify the deployment of IP/MPLS services and infrastructure. ECI has ensured, as a major value proposition, that the 9000 Family is managed by the leading LightSoft® network management system (NMS), which is also used by the company's XDM® and BroadGate® families of multi-service provisioning and transport platforms (MSPP/MSTP). ECI, by implementing LightSoft support in both the 9000 Family and the XDM and BroadGate families of WDM/ROADM and MSPPs, is uniquely positioned to deliver a view of the network that is operationally one converged view, by managing Layers 1, 2 and 3 services via a single NMS. Service providers' workforces already familiar with transport operational methods, furthermore, will have a familiar approach and interface to turning up and managing new services based on Carrier Ethernet. This is a solid proof point to the promise of the ECI 1Net framework also announced today.

The 9000 Family was independently tested and certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) as meeting the MEF's strict standards for service delivery over both GigE and 10 GigE interfaces. Including a complete set of IP and MPLS protocols, BFD, Ethernet OAM (e.g. 802.1ag) and more, the 9000 Family also supports a variety of industry protocols and standards. Available in Q2 2008, the carrier-grade product suite consists of the 9700 Series (Carrier Ethernet switch routers) and the 9200 Series (aggregation switches and demarcation units). The 9000 Family, including the flagship 9700 Series, is in multiple customer trials worldwide.