6 January 2003 -- Pioneer Consulting's report "Metro CWDM vs DWDM: An Assessment of the Opportunities, Technology Developments, and Business Cycle Impacts on Global Demand" predicts that worldwide metro WDM equipment sales will grow from USD1.2bn in 2001 to USD2.3bn in 2007.
Prior to the current economic downturn, metro dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) was one of the brightest spots for equipment producers such as Alcatel, Nortel, Tellabs and Sorrento Networks, but demand for metro DWDM equipment has since cooled. But, at the same time, interest in lower-tech, lower-cost CWDM (coarse wave division multiplexing) has been rekindled.
Pioneer Consulting says that these developments raise a number of crucial questions: Will a "new and improved" CWDM eclipse DWDM in the metro market? Or will an upturn in the telecom sector restore metro DWDM's momentum? What will be the overall market opportunity for DWDM versus CWDM over the longer term?
According to Paul Kellett, Senior Director - Research, "CWDM proponents are repositioning CWDM in the market as a low-cost alternative to metro DWDM for cash strapped carriers. We fully expect CWDM to achieve a measure of success in the metro market."