VSNL Achieves Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 14 Certification

  
    
  
  
    
      VSNL, a leading communications solutions provider, announced today that 
      its Ethernet over SDH/SONET and its India Ethernet services are the 
      first global Ethernet services to achieve Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 14 
      Certification. MEF 14 Certification is an internationally recognized 
      test suite that verifies conformance to the Quality of Service (QoS) 
      standard attributes defined by the MEF. These attributes are the 
      required foundation agreed to by the MEF membership for the 
      implementation of complete and comparable operational and performance 
      Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the assurance of enterprise carrier 
      Ethernet users.
    
    
      The independent Iometrix test laboratory certified VSNL’s 
      Global Ethernet Service to be internationally compliant to the MEF 14 
      specification after an extensive 4-week testing process that evaluated 
      VSNL’s Ethernet Service performance between 
      New York, London, Tokyo, Mumbai and Chennai. The Iometrix Test Plan for 
      Traffic Management is comprised of 170 test cases covering EPL (Ethernet 
      Private Line), EVPL (Ethernet Virtual Private Line), and E-LAN 
      (Ethernet- LAN) services.
    
    
      VSNL was also the first global and Indian service provider to achieve 
      MEF 9 UNI (User-Network-Interface) certification after successful 
      performance against 244 test cases that were applied against its 
      Ethernet services, also between New York, London, Tokyo, Mumbai and 
      Chennai. MEF 14 complements MEF 9 certification by adding requirements 
      and test procedures for Performance and Bandwidth Profile Service 
      Attributes.
    
    
      “Our MEF 14 and MEF 9 certifications assure 
      our customers that our Ethernet Service is fully measurable, manageable, 
      and robust, meeting criteria jointly defined by the world’s 
      leading Ethernet service providers and infrastructure suppliers,” 
      said Vinod Kumar, President, Global Data Solutions, VSNL. “VSNL’s 
      Global WAN Ethernet Services offer unparalleled global reach spanning 
      India, Europe, the Americas, and Asia. These services give enterprises 
      the assurance that their mission critical applications will be supported 
      with proven performance, reliability, scalability and flexibility.”
    
    
      VSNL’s enterprise-grade Ethernet Services are 
      provided seamlessly and securely across the VSNL Global Network 
      connecting Europe, North America, Asia and India. These global Ethernet 
      services provide a highly granular selection of bandwidths, standard 
      Fast-E and Gig-E interfaces and non-interrupting service upgrades—backed 
      by the assurance of MEF compliance.
    
    
      "The Quality of Service standards and testing associated with achieving 
      MEF 14 certification assures customers that the Ethernet service 
      provider will deliver without question on strict performance and 
      bandwidth guarantees and perform according to the agreed upon service 
      level specifications," says Nan Chen, President, Metro Ethernet Forum. 
      "We are honored to present VSNL with this critical recognition for their 
      International Ethernet network and welcome them as one of the first 
      service providers to receive MEF 14 certification."
    
    
      John Landau, Vice President, Enterprise Services for VSNL added, “We 
      believe that MEF 9 and MEF 14 certifications are important selection 
      criteria for our customers, as this is an independent verification that 
      VSNL’s Global Ethernet Services meet rigorous 
      standards to measure and manage jitter, latency and packet loss 
      requirements as demanded by global enterprises. MEF 9 and 14 
      certifications apply to our widely adopted Dedicated Global Ethernet 
      Service and also extend to the point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet 
      services that we are preparing to introduce in the future.”
    
    
      The MEF 14 certification was presented to VSNL at a ceremony which took 
      place at the at NXTcomm07 show in Chicago last week.
    
    
      For more information about VSNL’s global 
      Ethernet services, visit www.vsnlinternational.com.
    
    
      About the Metro Ethernet Forum (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/.
    
    
      About VSNL
    
    
      Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), a member of the US$27 billion Tata 
      Group, is a leading global communications company offering 
      next-generation voice, data and value-added services to enterprises, 
      carriers and retail consumers. Voted the Best Wholesale Service Provider 
      at the World Communications Awards, 2006, VSNL is one of the world’s 
      largest providers of wholesale international voice services and operates 
      one of the largest global submarine cable networks. VSNL’s 
      customer base includes 1500 Global Carriers, 450 Mobile Operators, 
      10,000 Enterprises, 500,000 Broadband and Internet subscribers and 300 
      Wi-Fi public hotspots.
    
    
      Rated amongst the Top 100 Emerging Global Challengers by the Boston 
      Consulting Group, VSNL has offices in over 35 countries including the 
      United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, 
      Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and India. VSNL’s 
      global transmission network of over 200,000 route kilometers and its IP 
      core with 200 points of presence, enable a range of services that 
      include voice, private leased circuits, IP VPN, Internet access, global 
      Ethernet, hosting, mobile signaling and other IP services. Our 
      philosophy of BusinessnRich drives us to empower our customers to 
      achieve enhanced value in their global businesses.
    
    
      VSNL (www.vsnl.com) is listed on the 
      Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, and its 
      American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New York Stock 
      Exchange.
    
    
      Forward-looking and cautionary statements
    
    
      Certain words and statements in this release concerning VSNL and its 
      prospects, and other statements relating to VSNL’s 
      expected financial position, business strategy, the future development 
      of VSNL’s operations and the general economy 
      in India, are forward-looking statements. These forward looking 
      statements include, among others, statements concerning VSNL’s 
      communications and information services business, its advantages and VSNL’s 
      strategy for continuing to pursue its business, the anticipated 
      development and launch of new services in its business, the anticipated 
      dates on which VSNL will begin providing certain services or reach 
      specific milestones in the development and implementation of its 
      business strategy, the growth and recovery of the communications and 
      information services, industry, expectations as to its future revenue, 
      margins, expenses and capital requirements and other statements of 
      expectations, beliefs, future plans and strategies, anticipated 
      developments and other matters that are not historical facts. 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 VSNL, or industry 
      results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such 
      forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on 
      numerous assumptions regarding VSNL’s present 
      and future business strategies and the environment in which VSNL will 
      operate in the future. 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 VSNL’s 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 VSNL’s communications services, failure to 
      integrate strategic acquisitions such as the Tyco Global Network and 
      Teleglobe International Holdings Limited and changes in government 
      policies or regulations of India and, in particular, changes relating to 
      the administration of VSNL’s 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 VSNL’s control, 
      include, but are not limited to, those risk factors discussed in VSNL’s 
      various filings with the United States Securities and Exchange 
      Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov.