Report: Metro Ethernet spending $64B from 2006 to 2010

APRIL 18, 2006 -- In the 5 years between 2006 and 2010, a cumulative total of nearly $64 billion will be spent on metro Ethernet equipment worldwide, according to a new report from Infonetics Research (search for Infonetics), "Metro Ethernet Equipment."

Worldwide metro Ethernet equipment manufacturer revenue jumped 83% in 2006, reaching just under $9.2 billion, and is projected to grow 73% to almost $16 billion by 2010.

Revenue in every metro Ethernet equipment category except enterprise class Ethernet switches and routers grew in 2006, with carrier Ethernet switches and routers, Ethernet over DSL and cable equipment, EPON equipment, and Ethernet access devices (EADs) posting triple-digit growth.

"Each year Ethernet gets a little closer to becoming the dominant mode of transmitting data traffic around the world, with tens of millions of 1G and 10G Ethernet ports already in metro networks, and many more projected. Service providers plan to gradually replace and displace their SONET/SDH equipment, and efforts are underway to bring SONET/SDH connection oriented functionality to Ethernet in 2007-2010," said Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

"With these new transport functions, Ethernet will have deterministic connection tunnels, complete with the QoS, resiliency, and reliability necessary to be used along with and instead of SONET/SDH," he concluded.

Report highlights include:

• The burgeoning EAD market more than doubled in 2006, and is expected to more than quadruple by 2010, fueled by rapid Ethernet services uptake.
  
• ADVA Optical Networking leads worldwide EAD revenue in 2006, with a big lead in fiber deployments; ADTRAN is second based on its bonded copper products.
  
• EADs currently are deployed mostly for customer-to-carrier connections, with some carrier-to-carrier connections. However, use of EADs in mobile backhaul will grow rapidly over the next few years.
  
• The majority of metro Ethernet port shipments are VDSL/G.SHDSL copper ports.
  
• North America accounted for 32% of all metro Ethernet equipment revenue in 2006, Asia Pacific for 33%, EMEA for 30%, and CALA for 5%.
  

Infonetics' report includes market size, analysis, and forecasts through 2010 for metro Ethernet ports and metro Ethernet equipment, including enterprise-class Ethernet switches and routers, carrier Ethernet switches and routers, Ethernet over SONET/SDH (standard and RPR), RPR over fiber, Ethernet over WDM, Ethernet over DSL and cable, EADs (fiber and copper), and EPON. The report also includes market share for EAD manufacturers.

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