- 20 February 2006 -

Carrier Ethernet switch/router revenues triple in 2005

Worldwide sales of carrier Ethernet switch/routers rose 17% quarter-over-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2005, capping a year of extraordinary growth that saw global revenues more than triple to $637 m for the year, according to the Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker service published by Heavy Reading, a New York based telecom market research firm.

"2005 turned out to be a phenomenal year for the carrier Ethernet switch/router (CESR) market, as service providers worldwide increasingly embraced Ethernet as a critical element of network convergence," said Senior Analyst Stan Hubbard, author of the CESR Quarterly Market Tracker. "Countless data points indicate that carrier Ethernet is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for network access, metro transport, and traffic aggregation - and the CESR products sit at the heart of this network transformation."

Heavy Reading projects that global CESR revenues will break the $1 bn mark in 2006, based on reports of surging carrier Ethernet RFPs and network build activity, primarily related to enterprise Ethernet services and residential triple-play, IPTV, and video-on-demand services. The research firm expects the CESR market to reach $2.2 billion in annual revenue in 2008.

Market leaders Cisco Systems and Alcatel continue to use their sales and marketing muscle and broad product portfolios to take charge of the increasingly crowded market in 2005. Cisco boosted its market share by several points in the fourth quarter and ended the year with a solid lead. Alcatel reported strong sequential revenue growth that solidified its position as the No. 2 CESR vendor.

Other vendors with significant market share in the fourth quarter and full year 2005 include Riverstone Networks, Atrica, Nortel Networks, and Siemens. Riverstone's position in the CESR market is expected to be assumed by Lucent Technologies, pending that company's proposed purchase of Riverstone's assets.

That deal is expected to close later this year.

Web: http://www.heavyreading.com