Carrier Ethernet Will Drive Sales of Packet Optical Transport Gear, Heavy Reading Finds

Latest quarterly market tracker delivers a detailed analysis of the emerging packet optical transport market and the technology suppliers gearing up to compete in it

PRNewswire
NEW YORK
Apr 11, 2008

NEW YORK, April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Optical telecom equipment suppliers expect the continuing surge in the deployment of carrier-class Ethernet services to create strong demand for packet optical transport systems, which are set to become commercially available this year, according to the latest forecast from Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com/), the market research division of TechWeb's Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/).

The latest edition of Heavy Reading's Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker delivers a detailed analysis of the emerging packet optical transport market and the technology suppliers gearing up to compete for market share in this promising equipment sector.

"Most of the recent activity in the packet optical space centers on bringing connection-oriented Ethernet functionality to market," says Sterling Perrin, Heavy Reading Senior Analyst and creator of the Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker. "Despite all the hype during the past year surrounding connection-oriented Ethernet, MPLS, T-MPLS, and PBB-TE, the functionality was just becoming available on optical transport platforms at the tail end of 2007."

Packet optical vendors announcing the availability of connection-oriented Ethernet include T-MPLS standard supporters ECI Telecom and Corrigent. Meanwhile, Alcatel-Lucent is planning T-MPLS support for its 1850 TSS product in the first quarter of 2008. On the PBB-TE front, Ciena's acquisition of World Wide Packets will result in the deployment of PBB-TE in Ciena's CN 4200 packet optical transport product, Perrin predicts.

Equipment makers are scrambling for an early advantage in the packet optical transport sector, a brand-new market that will reach $2.8 billion in annual sales by 2012, says Perrin.

Other key findings in Heavy Reading's Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker include:

    -- Metro/regional WDM equipment revenue totaled $639 million in 4Q07
       and $2.36 billion for all of 2007, for an annual growth rate of
       32.2%. Revenue growth for this sector was strongest in Europe, driven
       in part by the relative strength of the Euro versus the U.S. dollar.

    -- Multiservice Sonet/SDH revenue totaled $1.4 billion in 4Q07 and $4.98
       billion for all of 2007, representing a 10.4% annual growth rate.

Heavy Reading's Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker focuses on four key areas:

    -- Current vendor activities, including customer wins and product
       updates
    -- Vendor market share, updated quarterly
    -- Five-year forecasts for packet optical transport systems and related
       markets for metro/regional WDM and multiservice Sonet/SDH
    -- Key developments in enabling technologies for packet optical
       transport systems

Equipment vendors included in the tracker Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Corrigent, ECI Telecom, Fujitsu, Meriton, and Nortel Networks.

Heavy Reading's Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker is distributed in both Excel and PowerPoint formats. Reports may be purchased individually or as part of an annual subscription.

For more information, or to receive a free PowerPoint demo of the Packet-Enabled Optical Networking Quarterly Market Tracker, please contact:

  Dave Williams
  Sales Director, Heavy Reading
  858-485-8870
  dave.williams@heavyreading.com

  Press/analyst contact:
  Dennis Mendyk
  Managing Director, Heavy Reading
  201-587-2154
  mendyk@heavyreading.com

  About Heavy Reading

Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next- generation hardware and software.

About TechWeb

TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 10 million business technology professionals actively engage with and rely on our global face-to-face events, including Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, TechNet and MSDN Magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, custom media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

SOURCE: Heavy Reading

CONTACT: Dave Williams, Sales Director, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com, or Press and Analysts, Dennis Mendyk, Managing
Director, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com, both of Heavy Reading

Web site: http://www.heavyreading.com/
http://www.lightreading.com/
http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/