MRV Enhances OptiSwitch(R) Carrier Ethernet 2.0 Se

CHATSWORTH, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 25, 2013) - MRV Communications, Inc. ( OTCQB : MRVC ) ("MRV®"), a leading provider of optical communications network infrastructure solutions and equipment as well as integration and managed services, today announced it has enriched its OptiSwitch® (OS) Carrier Ethernet 2.0 Service Demarcation Series. The solutions are enhanced with support for advanced and standards-based timing and synchronization capabilities that are important for accurate service delivery in all Carrier Ethernet-based 3G and 4G/LTE mobile backhaul applications and deployment scenarios.

As mobile operators and wholesale service providers transition to packet backhaul networks, many use Carrier Ethernet as the transport technology of choice to address the rapid growth in mobile data traffic and to accelerate LTE deployments. During this transition, it is crucial for providers to deliver precise timing and synchronization in order to assure successful mobile backhaul deployment with high quality-of-experience.

Matching these dynamic market trends, MRV® has enriched its OptiSwitch® Carrier Ethernet (CE) 2.0 Series by adding both Precision Time Protocol (PTP) IEEE1588v2 and Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) features to the OS940-MBH and the OS906G-M-MBH models. These enhancements enable mobile backhaul applications with assured service level agreements (SLA) for 1G and 10G converged Layer 2 CE 2.0 and IP service aggregation and demarcation implementations. MRV's comprehensive timing and synchronization features ensure that the OptiSwitch® Series supports both all-packet and hybrid circuit-packet backhaul applications.

"Best in class support for SyncE and PTP synchronization protocols is an important differentiator for network equipment vendors," said Patrick Donegan, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading. "Some people in the industry still think it's a simple tick-box feature but it's really not. Meeting frequency synchronization requirements for mobile networks has already proved challenging for some vendors. With new time/phase requirements as you evolve through LTE and LTE-A releases of 3GPP, synchronization becomes even more challenging."

The new OptiSwitch® models are also temperature-hardened (-40°C to +65°C) for operation in uncontrolled temperature environments or remote cell towers. Supported by MRV's hardware-based Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) tools for service operation, administration and management (SOAM) they ensure strict SLA compliant service offerings. The full suite of MEF OAM tools includes a built-in tester and traffic generator for service turn-up testing that enables service providers to cut CapEx and OpEx expenditures by replacing expensive testing equipment. The new OptiSwitch® models are managed with MRV's Pro-Vision® Service Provisioning and Management System that enables zero-touch service creation for mass deployment with rapid service turn-up, extensive reporting and web-based customer portals.

"With mobile data traffic forecast to double annually over the next five years, and bandwidth-hungry video likely to make up three quarters of the traffic fuelling LTE Backhaul, Carrier Ethernet is quickly becoming the dominant transport technology. Mobile operators and wholesale service providers need to accommodate unrelenting growth and ensure comprehensive end-to-end service OAM that will enable them to create new revenue streams from the delivery of SLA-based timing and synchronization services with both PTP, IEEE1588v2 and SyncE," said Tim Pillow, senior vice president of global sales and marketing for MRV Communications. "The new OptiSwitch® models deliver the most advanced synchronization mechanisms with industry-leading OAM tools to ensure providers can meet their own business needs, as well as their customer demands."

About OptiSwitch® MRV's OptiSwitch® family is an award-winning line of Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE 2.0) Certified compact Carrier Ethernet service demarcation and 1st-mile service aggregation platforms designed to meet any Carrier Ethernet network requirement. Powered by a common and unified Master-OS™ control plane software, OptiSwitch® Series encompasses from the OS900 converged MEF Layer 2 & IP service demarcation to the OS9000 CE 2.0 high-density 10GE packet-optical pre-aggregation platforms.

OptiSwitch® products are deployed in world's most prominent Tier-1 networks offering service providers a full suite of carrier-grade CE 2.0 services along with high-availability, Hierarchical Quality of Service (H-QoS), security, multi-layer operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) support, and TDM circuit emulation services. The comprehensive selection of hardware-based and multi-layer OAM features and tools offers flexible service awareness and enables rigid SLAs.

OptiSwitch® products meet IEEE, ITU, IETF standards and MEF specifications, offering complete control to simplify deployment and management while maintaining full interoperability and visibility into customer and provider networks. The OptiSwitch® Series is among the 1st MEF CE 2.0 Certified products and is fully compliant with the MEF CE 2.0 initiative that will enable service providers to transform their metro networks for a wide range of next-generation services including mobile backhaul to support the growing 4G and LTE networks, to offering differentiated Business Ethernet services as well as cloud access services.

MRV's Pro-Vision®, Service Provisioning and Network Management system, further enriches the OptiSwitch® CE 2.0 solution by simplifying the creation, provisioning, delivery and management of new, advanced Ethernet services for residential, business, mobile backhaul and access to cloud services with zero-touch mass deployment with rapid service turn-up.

About MRV Communications, Inc. MRV Communications, Inc. is a leading global provider of Carrier Ethernet 2.0, wavelength division multiplexing optical transport, infrastructure management equipment and solutions, as well as network integration and managed services. MRV's solutions enable the delivery and provisioning of next-generation optical transport and carrier Ethernet services over any fiber infrastructure. MRV® provides equipment and services worldwide to telecommunications service providers, enterprises, and governments, enabling network evolution and increasing efficiency, while reducing complexity and costs. MRV® operates development centers in North America and Europe, along with support centers and sales offices around the world. For more information about MRV®, visit: www.mrv.com .