Metro
Ethernet equipment sales are set to triple to $15bn (£8.1bn)
between 2005 and 2009, according to analyst Infonetics
Research.
There was strong
growth in Ethernet over copper and cable products and carrier
Ethernet switches and routers. Infonetics Research analyst Michael
Howard said, "Ethernet has almost universal appeal to carriers and
their customers because it helps lower their telecom costs.”
He said, "Service
providers increasingly deploy Ethernet solutions for a variety of
uses, but mainly to offer new revenue-generating services.”
Howard said the
two most popular types of Ethernet equipment are Ethernet over
copper and cable and carrier-class Ethernet switches and routers,
which together will make up over two-thirds of the overall metro
Ethernet market by 2009.
Worldwide sales of
carrier Ethernet switches and routers hit $2.1bn in 2005 and will
more than double to $4.6bn in 2009, said Infonetics.