OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2011. Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology, and communications solutions, announced 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, reported the press-centre of Fujitsu.

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’s 10th 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.