Report: Ethernet Drives Fiber Access Market Gain

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., June 4 -- The fiber access equipment market is poised for growth, spurred by a favorable regulatory climate and demand for high-speed data, entertainment and voice, according to market analysis company IDC, which forecasts that revenue will increase from $503 million in 2003 to $2.4 billion by 2008 for a 37-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over that period.
Fiber access networks are "last mile" technology that bring the capacity of optical fiber directly to customers.
"Fiber is the next-generation wireline replacement for copper access networks," said Sterling Perrin, IDC senior research analyst, Optical Networks. "Clearly, the migration from copper to fiber will take a long time -- decades may pass before fiber access lines outnumber copper access lines. But the migration has begun, as evidenced by the $500 million in revenue generated in fiber access in 2003. The migration is also evidenced in the joint RBOC RFP for fiber-to-the-premises issued last summer."
Looking at the fiber access equipment market over the next five years, IDC said Ethernet will be by far the dominant technology, not ATM-based passive optical networks (APONs) or G.983, equipment that was standardized by the International Telecommunication Union and, until now, has been most closely associated with fiber in the access network. The Asia/Pacific region will drive Ethernet fiber access and is leading the metro Ethernet services charge, IDC said. Many of the deployments in that region to date have been made using newer Ethernet equipment, rather than older APONs.
IDC said systems vendors and systems vendor suppliers need to take a global view of the market, realize the significance of Ethernet equipment in fiber access networks today and understand that G.983 APON will play a minority role in the global market.
For more information about IDC's Worldwide Fiber Access Equipment 2004-2008 Forecast and Analysis, visit:
For more information, visit: www.idc.com