TheMplify Alliance, originallyMetro Ethernet Forum and laterMEF Forum, is anonprofit international industryconsortium, of network, cloud, and technology providers.[1] It was originally dedicated toCarrier Ethernet networks and services, and in recent years, significantly broadened its scope, which now includes underlay connectivity services such as Optical, Carrier Ethernet, IP, along with overlay digital services including SD-WAN Services, as well as APIs to support orchestration of the service lifecycle (termed Lifecycle Service Orchestration, or LSO APIs based onMEF 55 Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO): Reference Architecture and Framework, for connectivity and digital services). Along with this change in scope, MEF re-branded from the "Metro Ethernet Forum", to simply "MEF". "MEF Forum" is MEF's legal name.
The forum is composed of service providers, incumbent local exchange carriers, network equipment vendors, cloud providers and other related organizations, within the information and communications technology industry, that share an interest in connectivity services, digital services, automation, orchestration and standardization to pragmatically enhance and accelerate the industry's digital transformation. There are approximately 200 MEF members, many of which have achieved MEF 3.0 certification of their MEF-standardized services or technology.
MEF comprises multiple technical committees to develop, evolve and promote the adoption of MEF standard services and interfaces. The forum regularly makes recommendations to, and collaborates with, existing standards bodies, such as theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
MEF was preceded by the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA), also a nonprofit international industry consortium, which was established in 2001[2] to promote standards-basedEthernet in the first mile (EFM) technologies and products and position EFM as a networking technology for anaccess network.
In 2005, with the completion of the802.3ah standard by the IEEE, the EFMA became part of MEF.[3]
In 2015, MEF voted to change its name to "MEF Forum" to reflect its expansion in setting standards fornetwork virtualization.[4]
In 2017, the International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium (IMTC) was merged into MEF.[5]
In 2018, MEF published its first technical standards on optical transport (MEF 63) and IP (MEF 61).[6]
In June 2025, the MEF was renamed to the Mplify Alliance.[7]
Thesewhite papers provide a comprehensive technical overview of MEF services, APIs, certification and new areas of work with MEF, based on the work of MEF's technical committees.[8]
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