As you are reading this we hope you are either at the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) gathering of carriers/service providers in Hawaii, or hopefully packing your bags to go! Telecom Review Magazine has always helped promote this event and we are once again a media sponsor this year. We look forward to seeing old friends, and new, from all across the Pacific at this year’s PTC.

December was a busy month at Telecom Review as we once again hosted the Telecom Leaders Forum. This meeting was held in Dubai on December 17 and it was certainly well attended. This gathering of CEO/CTO level executives from across our industry is always a great forum for seeing old friends and exchanging industry ideas with new ones. The gathering in Dubai was no exception and we have provided an overview of the event in this issue.

The Metro Ethernet Forum has become a leading force in the Ethernet market and we have great interviews in this issue with Nan Chen and Kevin Vachon of the MEF. They provided some great insight into the MEF, Carrier Ethernet 2, and the future of Ethernet so please be sure and read their interviews.

Also included in this issue is a thought provoking interview with Carl Roberts of Verizon. He provides some great insights into the wholesale market, and its future.

On the technology front, optical networks continue to grow their capacity, and capability. You will read about carriers that are equipping their networks with 100G in order to handle their customer demands. In addition, you will read about optical network testing that includes the use of SDN in the optical network!

2013 will be a defining year for mobile, optical networking, SDN, Ethernet and many other technologies. Telecom Review is at the forefront of reporting on these enhancements and we look forward to bringing you the news as these technologies continue to evolve.

Jeff Seal

Editor in Chief