Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance

The MEF, founded in 2001 as the Metro Ethernet Forum, is a nonprofit international industry consortium, dedicated to adoption of Carrier Ethernet networks and services.

The forum is composed of service providers, incumbent local exchange carriers, network equipment vendors, and other networking companies that share an interest in Metro Ethernet. It had 217 members as of September 2015.

The MEF is a combination of a technical and a marketing forum to promote the adoption of Metro Ethernet. This contrasts with standard bodies such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The forum makes recommendations to existing standards bodies and creates specifications that are not being developed by (or fall within the scope of) other standards bodies.

The MEF was preceded by the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA), also a nonprofit international industry consortium. It was established in 2001 to promote standards-based Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) technologies and products and position EFM as a networking technology for an access network.

In 2005, with the completion of the 802.3ah standard by the IEEE, the EFMA became part of the MEF.

In 2015, the MEF voted to change its official legal name to "MEF Forum" to reflect its expansion in setting standards for virtualized networks.

These white papers provide a comprehensive technical overview of Ethernet services, based on the work of the MEF Technical Committee. The papers are intended to help buyers and users of Ethernet services understand the types and characteristics of the services and to help service providers clearly communicate their capabilities.

As of August 2015, the MEF had approved 53 technical specifications (see the full list):

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