100G technology to grow at a faster rate than 40G

BOSTON METRO, USA: 100G technology will grow at a faster rate than 40G did in its first years of introduction, starting in earnest in early 2013, finds Infonetics Research in its whitepaper, The Fast Approaching 100G Era'.

It further adds that this could be accelerated if China, which claims 50 per cent of 40G ports shipped today, moves to 100G faster than expected.

The whitepaper outlines what Infonetics analyst Andrew Schmitt calls "the optical reboot" - the network transformation efforts underway that include increasing bit rates from 10 Gigabit to 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit, coherent optics for better spectral efficiency, widespread use of OTN (optical transport network) switching to improve network efficiency and resiliency, ROADMs (reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers) to increase optical flexibility, and eventually Ethernet/MPLS as a circuit replacement for traditional SONET/SDH.

Andrew Schmitt, directing analyst for optical at Infonetics Research, said: "It is clear that 40 Gigabit technology will be squeezed by cost-competitive 100 Gigabit solutions from above, and by low-cost tunable XFP solutions from below. Carriers place a greater premium on spectral efficiency and operational costs, and they're showing a willingness to adopt higher speed technologies at prices above historical thresholds."

"When 100G coherent component technology prices come down to not more than twice that of 40G technology, we'll see a rapid switchover to 100G transmission when it becomes widely available in 2013," added Schmitt.

Schmitt also added that once this transition is underway, vendors will differentiate themselves not just by the availability of 100G WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) technology, but by the ability to tame these fat pipes with effective switching technology, be it OTN switching or full-blown IP/MPLS switching.