In the Ether

There is no dominant provider of Ethernet business services in the U.S., according to the latest market share results from Vertical Systems Group.

Indeed, most leading business Ethernet service providers are separated by just a few percentage points.

A mix of incumbent carriers and specialized vendors comprise Vertical's top 10 Ethernet services roster. The new AT&T (the combined AT&T/SBC) leads overall with a 19.9% share of Ethernet ports, followed by Verizon Business (the combined Verizon/MCI) in second position at 14.6%.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

There is no dominant provider of Ethernet business services in the U.S., according to the latest market share results from Vertical Systems Group.

Indeed, most leading business Ethernet service providers are separated by just a few percentage points.

A mix of incumbent carriers and specialized vendors comprise Vertical's top 10 Ethernet services roster. The new AT&T (the combined AT&T/SBC) leads overall with a 19.9% share of Ethernet ports, followed by Verizon Business (the combined Verizon/MCI) in second position at 14.6%.

BellSouth is third with 13.8% share and fourth is Cogent at 11.2%. Next are Time Warner Telecom, Yipes, Qwest, Sprint, OnFiber and Level 3/WilTel to complete the top ten.

Total number of ports is around 35,000, according to Vertical. They all represent fiber-based retail services at 10Mbps, 100Mbps and 1Gbps.

Other providers of business Ethernet services in the U.S. include 360networks, AboveNet, AFS, Broadwing, Charter Business, Cox, Electric Lightwave, Expedient, Global Crossing, Globix, Looking Glass Networks, Masergy, Met-Net, Neopolitan Networks, New Edge Networks, NTT/Verio, Optimum Lightpath, Savvis, TelCove, XO and Xspedius.

Vertical calculates share figures using year-end 2005 enterprise customer installations of fiber-based Ethernet services.

During 2006, the firm expects significant shifts in share position as a result of more proactive service delivery, broader geographic coverage, and the rollout of Ethernet offerings below 10 Mbps, says Vertical's chief Rick Malone.

"These dynamics offer Ethernet service providers an exceptional window of opportunity to gain share in this high-growth market," Malone says.

Worldwide Ethernet service revenue was $5.9 billion in 2005, a 132% increase from 2004, according to Infonetics Research. That firm expects worldwide revenue to jump another 280% by 2009, to $22.5 billion.

Read more about service providers in Network World's Service Providers section.