The U.S. public Ethernet services market is expected to grow from $940 million in 2006 to more than $5 billion in 2012, according to a study from the Insight Research Corp.
According to the study, the term “public Ethernet” refers to any Layer 2 public network carrier service that extends beyond the LAN and connects to customers through Ethernet interfaces.
Until recently, public Ethernet services were mostly referred to as “metro Ethernet,” and the largest portion of sales had been within a metropolitan area. This is expected to change in 2007 as major incumbents — particularly AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications — introduce long-haul Layer 2 VPNs, the study said.
“Insight’s research suggests that the many-to-many E-LAN service will be the fastest growing part of public Ethernet because the economic advantages of Ethernet actually increase exponentially (as opposed to proportionally) in relation to the number of points connected,” said Robert Rosenberg, president of Insight Research. “And though we expect to see an accelerating pace of Ethernet adoption across the board, we are not ready to predict that Ethernet is ready to ‘take over the world.’ Generally speaking, private line and frame relay customers are not ready to or interested in deserting longstanding services, so the migration to Ethernet is going to be slow and steady.”
Insight Research Corp. www.insight-corp.com
