Carrier Ethernet equipment mkt to be $32.0 bn in 2011

CALIFORNIA, USA: Global carrier Ethernet equipment market to finish 2011 up 15.7 per cent to $32.0 billion, following a 30.5 per cent hike in 2010, finds market research firm Infonetics Research.

In its latest Carrier Ethernet Equipment market size, market share, and forecast report, the researcher also finds that Service provider investment in carrier Ethernet equipment continues to outpace overall telecom capex, which Infonetics expects to be up six per cent in 2011.

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"The carrier Ethernet equipment market continues to grow strongly, so much so that we've increased our long-term forecast from $37.5 billion to $40.2 billion by 2015. Some market segments are growing faster while others are slowing faster than we originally anticipated. The largest downward changes are in the Ethernet microwave and VDSL equipment segments, and the largest upward change is in the hot carrier Ethernet switch segment," explains Michael Howard, principal analyst, carrier networks and co-founder, Infonetics Research.

The carrier Ethernet equipment market is being driven chiefly by the move to packet-based IP next-generation networks and growing consumer, business, and mobile backhaul traffic, particularly video traffic.

The carrier move to packet depends heavily on IP, MPLS, and Ethernet, as operators gradually employ the use of Ethernet transport instead of Sonet/SDH, it adds.

Mobile backhaul continues to be a particular growth area for carrier Ethernet, with IP/Ethernet equipment expected to make up 95 per cent of all mobile backhaul spending by 2015.

The largest carrier Ethernet investments are in routers, carrier Ethernet switches (CES), and optical gear, which together make up more than two-thirds of the total carrier Ethernet market. further finds the report.

Cisco leads the carrier Ethernet switch market with 45 per cent of global revenue, with no close competitors. ADVA and Ciena lead the fast-growing global Ethernet access device (EAD) market.