Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Members Re-Elect Fujitsu Director to Global Alliance’s Board of Directors

Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology, and communications solutions, announced today that Ralph Santitoro, director of Carrier Ethernet market development at Fujitsu Network Communications, was re-elected to the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Board of Directors for the fourth consecutive year. Now celebrating 10 years of industry leadership, the MEF is the defining body for the development of Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet worldwide.

Ralph Santitoro (on right) of Fujitsu accepting MEF's Outstanding Leadership Award for significant contributions and leadership in the MEF from Nan Chen (on left), MEF president. (Photo: Business Wire)

A leading MEF contributor since 2001, Santitoro was editor of the MEF technical specification defining Ethernet Services, and provided significant contributions to several other MEF specifications. Santitoro is a key contributor in the development of the MEF’s new Ethernet Access Services specification expected to be ratified in January 2012. He also authored the MEF's popular Ethernet Services primer and co-authored its Carrier Ethernet Security paper.

“Being a part of the MEF and collaborating with a diverse set of talented individuals is extremely rewarding to me. It’s an honor to be re-elected to the board and I am eager to advance and evangelize the important work being done by the MEF to foster the high growth rate of the market,” said Santitoro. “Our efforts have helped drive the industry from a niche business in 2001 to one of stellar growth. According to research from Vertical Systems Group, Ethernet access services now outsell bandwidth from all other legacy data access services.”

Santitoro also created the MEF’s new Carrier Ethernet Professional Certification Program and co-developed the exam for its first certification level: Carrier Ethernet Certified Professional (CECP). He also participates in the MEF’s new dynamic-responsive Ethernet project defining Carrier Ethernet connectivity to cloud service providers and data centers. At the recent MEF 10^th anniversary celebration held in Napa Valley, Santitoro was awarded the MEF’s Outstanding Leadership Award for his significant contributions and leadership in the MEF over the past 10 years.

“Ralph’s leadership in the MEF and within Fujitsu is critical to making Carrier Ethernet networks and services more ubiquitous on a global scale,” said Rod Naphan, senior vice president of product and strategic planning at Fujitsu Network Communications. “We are proud to have him as part of the Fujitsu team and pleased that his unique leadership and expertise has been recognized again this year by the MEF.”

For Fujitsu Network Communications, Santitoro drives thought leadership and market development of high performance Carrier Ethernet applications and services using Fujitsu packet optical networking solutions. He created Fujitsu’s Carrier Ethernet Webinar Series where he lectures on Carrier Ethernet technologies, applications and services to educate the market. He is a widely-published author and a frequent speaker on Carrier Ethernet networks and services, connection-oriented Ethernet, network and information security, packet optical networking, data center connectivity and cell site backhaul applications. For almost 30 years, Santitoro has developed and marketed innovative communications, computing and security products and cloud-based services at Fujitsu, and at other large scale and early-stage technology companies serving enterprises, SMBs, communications service providers and consumer markets. Santitoro holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of information and communication technology (ICT)-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 170,000 employees supporting customers in over 100 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu Network Communications

Fujitsu Network Communications Inc., headquartered in Richardson, Texas, is an innovator in Connection-oriented Ethernet and optical transport technologies. A market leader in packet optical networking solutions, WDM and SONET, Fujitsu offers a broad portfolio of multi-vendor network services as well as end-to-end solutions for design, implementation, migration, support and management of optical networks. The only major optical networking vendor to manufacture its own equipment in North America, Fujitsu has over 450,000 network elements deployed by major North American carriers across the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please see: http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom.

Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo, and “shaping tomorrow with you” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

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