Rapid growth predicted for metro Ethernet

The metro area is a good place to bet on Ethernet, according to Infonetics Research, which recently produced a report forecasting rapid growth.

Infonetics, of San Jose, says worldwide sales of metro Ethernet equipment is bound to grow 131% by 2006. The market was $2.5 billion in 2002 and should reach $5.7 billion in 2006.

There were 756,000 ports of Ethernet equipment shipped for metro applications in 2002, and that will leap to 3.3 million by 2006, the firm says.

Ethernet will slowly take a larger portion of capital expenditures in this area, competing mainly against SONET/SDH. Ethernet promises high performance at a relatively low cost. Service providers can also use Ethernet to offer bandwidth in increments.

Interestingly, the greatest chunk of spending is seen in the Asia-Pacific region, at 43%, while North America represents about 37%.

Much has been debated over whether Ethernet would be suitable for the metro area, given the heightened need for control and fast failover if a link is cut. But as with most network areas, Ethernet is winning because of its low cost and ease of use.

Infonetics offers a fuller report. You can get more details at:

https://www.infonetics.com/home.htm