April 12, 2005 San Jose, CA -- Worldwide metro Ethernet equipment revenue reached $3.8 billion in 2004, and is projected to double to $7.6 billion by 2008, according to a report from Infonetics Research, an international market research and consulting firm covering the data networking and telecommunications industries. The report finds metro Ethernet ports growing strongly as well, increasing 433% between 2004 and 2008.

According to the report, nearly $29 billion will be spent worldwide on Ethernet in metro networks between 2004 and 2008. The report also projects that every year over the next 10 years, Ethernet will account for a larger portion of metro capex, with double-digit growth in Ethernet equipment revenue expected through 2008, at least.

"The emergence of carrier class products with strong MEF-defined MPLS protection and service capabilities - which we now track in our report as Carrier Ethernet Switches and Routers - is a major step toward making Ethernet an integral part of metro networks," explains Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "Carriers have been waiting for products like these to help make metro Ethernet more dependable, resilient, and adaptable."

Highlights of the report include:

* Carrier Ethernet switch and router revenue hit $61 million worldwide in 2004, or 2% of the total metro Ethernet equipment market, and is expected to grow to $2.7 billion in 2008, representing 35% of the market.

* Nortel is the worldwide revenue market share leader for both Ethernet over SONET/SDH and Ethernet over WDM.

* Alcatel is second in the Ethernet over SONET/SDH category, followed closely by Cisco.

* ADVA is second in the Ethernet over WDM category, followed closely by Cisco.

* Two important standards (RPR 802.17 and IEEE 802.3ah) were passed with positive market effects.

* Asia Pacific accounted for 39% of metro Ethernet equipment revenue in 2004, North America for 35%, EMEA for 21%, and CALA for 5%. These ratios will generally stay similar through 2008, with the CALA region gaining some points, and the APAC region losing some.

"Expect to see explosive growth in Carrier Ethernet products in the next few years," concludes Howard. "Carriers are already deploying them, and they will continue displacing revenue from enterprise/metro Ethernet switches and enterprise/metro routers with Ethernet interfaces for the foreseeable future."

The report, "Metro Ethernet Equipment," includes market size and share information and analysis, as well as revenue and port forecasts through 2008 for all global regions, separately tracking CLE and PLE revenue in seven categories: carrier Ethernet switches and routers (FTTB and FTTH), Ethernet switches (FTTB and FTTH), routers with Ethernet interfaces, Ethernet over SONET/SDH (standard and RPR), RPR over fiber, Ethernet over WDM, and Ethernet over copper and cable.