OTN to outpace overall optical market in five years

MASSACHUSETTS, USA:  The optical transport network (OTN) transport and switching market is forecast by Infonetics to grow at a 17 per cent CAGR from 2011 to 2016, outpacing the 5.5 per cent CAGR of the overall optical equipment market (WDM, SONET/SDH).

Infonetics Research in its latest OTN and Packet Optical Hardware report finds that around 80 per cent of all WDM equipment now supports OTN.

"OTN is on the fast track to outpacing the overall optical market within the next five years," notes Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst, optical, Infonetics Research. "Nearly half of all 2011 optical equipment spending worldwide was on OTN transport and switching hardware, and by 2016 we expect this to rise to almost 80 per cent, with the burgeoning OTN switching segment growing the fastest. Carriers large and small looking to build efficient transport networks are increasingly turning to OTN switching. China's telecom carriers are leading the way and are issuing substantial RFPs for OTN switching in the core this year."

Infonetics expects 100G port shipments to overtake 40G shipments by 2014. Huawei is the #1 OTN transport equipment vendor, followed by Alcatel-Lucent and Ciena.

A cumulative $6.6 billion is expected to be spent on second-generation P-OTS platforms that combine Ethernet and OTN/SDH switching during the five years from 2012 to 2016.

A big vendor battle is brewing in the P-OTS space: Cisco, Tellabs, and Alcatel-Lucent are the top three vendors, however, Fujitsu, Ciena, and Huawei are gaining