Cisco signs up to Ethernet promotion group

Cisco Systems has joined the Ethernet Alliance as a principal member and plans to join the industry group's board of directors. 

The Ethernet Alliance was formed in January and currently has 34 members at different levels, including 3Com, Intel, Samsung and Sun Microsystems.

The group aims to promote the development, launch and support of the networking technology, including the promotion of Ethernet for consumer applications and in evolving markets, as well as support for Power over Ethernet.

Cisco spokesman John Noh told vnunet.com that the firm will now have an additional way to promote some of its new applications, such as metropolitan Ethernet networks and the use of the networking technology in enterprise applications.

But Noh admitted that not joining would not have prevented the company from doing anything.

Cisco's support is a major win for the Ethernet Alliance and will boost its creditability. The initial absence of large players such as Cisco would have rendered irrelevant initiatives coming out of the organisation.

Noh claimed that Cisco was working on filing its membership application when the organisation was first unveiled and merely had to "get the paperwork done".

Several large networking players including Huawei, Juniper Networks and Nortel are notably absent from the organisation's membership list.