Operators to spend $75 billion on optical systems over next five years: Dell’Oro

Network operators will spend $75 billion optical transport systems over the next five years, predicts the Dell’Oro Group. The market research firm adds in its most recent “Optical Transport 5-Year Forecast Report” that the spending spree will see the market hit $16 billion by 2022.

As much as 95% of the money spent on optical network equipment during the time frame will go toward WDM systems, Dell’Oro researchers predict. “We expect demand for optical equipment to continue rising,” said Jimmy Yu, vice president at Dell’Oro Group. “Although the shift away from legacy optical transport equipment will continue to weigh down the market’s top line revenue, we foresee a rising use of WDM systems as service providers continue to expand their fiber footprint and Internet content providers continue to install more optical transport capacity between their global data centers.”

Most WDM deployments during the forecast period will occur in metro access and aggregation, according to Dell’Oro. Roll outs of 5G mobile and next-generation fixed broadband technologies such as 10G PON, Gfast, and DOCSIS 3.1 will drive this trend. Data center interconnect requirements also will prove a catalyst for spending, accounting for 18% of WDM systems revenue by 2022.

Last year's “Optical Transport 5-Year Forecast Report” predicted 2021 revenue of $15 billion for optical transport systems (see "Demand for 100G and greater coherent wavelengths to drive optical transport market to $15B: Dell'Oro").

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