SANTA CLARA, CA -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR), today announced its founding role in the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA). Craig Easley, director of service provider marketing for Extreme Networks will serve as president of the EFMA with responsibility for overseeing the strategic direction and execution of alliance activities. The goal of the EFMA is to promote Ethernet within the first mile of subscriber access networks resulting in faster, simplified broadband services for both business and consumer markets. The EFMA will support the Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) standards effort conducted in the IEEE's P802.3ah Task Force, supported by more than 100 leading companies worldwide. Easley joins Peter Linder of Ericsson Communications on the EFMA board of directors along with five other representatives from leading service provider and telecommunications vendors. "The adoption of a universal standard by the IEEE will propel efficient and cost effective Ethernet technology where legacy access technologies have been unsuccessful," said Easley. "The charter of the alliance stems from the clear demand from end-users, service providers and equipment vendors to foster interoperable technology and create network equipment based on Ethernet for improved delivery of broadband services." Since January 2001, Extreme Networks has delivered critical First Mile technologies that reduce costs and simplify networks, making Ethernet the most attractive technology for carrying high-speed traffic between both customers' LANs and WANs. First Mile applications include business and residential access for broadband Internet applications including e-commerce, streaming video, interactive content, e-mail messaging, secure VPN access and telephony. For example, today service providers can provision bandwidth by the slice to a customer connecting high-speed Ethernet over fiber or CAT-5 cabling. With this new technology, the same platform can be used to provision Ethernet over T-1 or DS-3 circuits, or over low-grade twisted pair wiring with VDSL at up to 10Mbps. This lowers costs while extending network access by using a single platform and single provisioning model from end to end. Being able to deploy one platform enables service providers to significantly reduce cost and complexity, and reach profitability sooner by enlarging the number of customers they can serve. For more information visit www.extremenetworks.com