Service enhancements and improved network quality fuel Ethernet growth

Vertical Systems Group released its U.S. Leaderboard for ranking Ethernet service providers through the first half of 2012 – saying that new value-added enhancements, coupled with improved network quality, gave the market a solid boost. Vertical ranks service providers with 4% or more of the market based on billable enterprise port installations.

“Our research clearly indicates rising demand for Ethernet access focused on connectivity to private clouds for data center hosting,” says Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “We expect to see increased deployments of these configurations, which could have an impact on Ethernet share results as early as year-end 2012.”

AT&T topped the leaderboard, followed by Verizon, tw telecom, CenturyLink, Cox, XO, Time Warner Cable, and Level 3 Communications. The latter two just announced an agreement to boost Time Warner's capabilities (see "Time Warner Cable to expand its national network via agreement with Level 3").

Other providers selling Ethernet services in the U.S. are segmented into two tiers by share of ports installed. The first tier includes seven providers (alphabetically): Charter Business, Cogent, Comcast Business, Optimum Lightpath, Reliance Globalcom, Windstream (includes Pantec), and Zayo Group (includes AboveNet). The second tier includes (alphabetically): Alpheus Communications, American Telesis, Bright House Networks, Canby, Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications (includes Surewest), Expedient, FiberLight, Frontier, Integra, IP Networks, Lightower, Litecast, LS Networks, Masergy, Megapath, Met-Net, NTT America, Orange Business, Sidera Networks, Spirit, Sprint, SuddenLink, US Signal, Virtela, and others.

Market shares for the mid-2012 U.S. Ethernet Leaderboard were calculated using Vertical’s base of enterprise installations, plus direct input and other data from surveys of Ethernet service providers.