Research and Markets: This in-Depth 2010 Analysis on the U.S. Wholesale Carrier Ethernet Services Market is Now Available

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/49af62/u_s_wholesale_car) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "U.S. Wholesale Carrier Ethernet Services Market Update 2010" to their offering.

“The market was earlier largely limited to point-to-point or E-Line circuits and metro access being wholesaled”

Carrier Ethernet services, as defined in this study, include all layer 2 services sold under various names- transparent or native LAN, metro Ethernet, Ethernet private line (EPL), Ethernet virtual private line (EVPL), Ethernet access, and virtual private LAN service (VPLS). The study analyzes market drivers, restraints and market trends for carrier Ethernet services. Market forecasts for the period 2006-2014 are provided for metro and long haul market, for different services under each of these segments, and for different ports speeds sold in the wholesale carrier Ethernet services market. A brief info on pricing trends is also included in the research

Research Overview This Frost & Sullivan research service titled U.S. Wholesale Carrier Ethernet Services Market Update 2010 provides an in-depth analysis of the market drivers and restraints, industry trends, and competitive environment in addition to the industry challenges and issues faced by market participants. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following technologies: private line, synchronous optical network (SONET), wavelength services, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, carrier Ethernet and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS).

Market Overview

Emergence of Carrier Ethernet Exchanges Expand Prospects for the U.S. Wholesale Carrier Ethernet Services Market

The U.S. wholesale carrier Ethernet services market is poised for high growth during the next few years as carrier network interconnects grow, thereby expanding the footprint of competitive carriers primarily and all other carriers in general. The emergence of carrier Ethernet exchanges will have a huge impact on the wholesale Ethernet market, providing a platform for carriers to connect to multiple carriers at a location. This eliminates the tedium of drawing bilateral agreements with each of the carriers with whom they intend to interact. "Wireless carriers, as a customer segment for wholesale Ethernet was the single largest segment driving double digit revenue growth for the market in 2009," notes the analyst of this research service. "Wholesale carriers saw great demand for Ethernet both for mobile backhaul and aggregation, and this trend will continue in the foreseeable future." ISPs continue to buy high-speed Ethernet ports for IP transit applications and represent a significant revenue share of the market. Wireline carriers competitive local exchange companies/local exchange companies (CLECs/ILECs) buying Ethernet circuits to expand their network footprint represent the largest revenue share of the wholesale Ethernet market.

The U.S. carrier Ethernet services market has entered the growth phase of the product life cycle, owing to standardization of switched Ethernet products such as, Ethernet virtual private line (EVPL) and virtual private LAN service (VPLS). The market witnessed greater uptake of switched Ethernet services in 2009, and this trend is expected to continue until 2014. Despite the year-on-year (YoY) growth rates being higher for EVPL as compared to Ethernet private line (EPL), EPL services will represent a majority revenue share in the wholesale Ethernet market. The revenues are expected to reach $1,523.2 million in 2014, as carriers are beginning to offer multiple flavors of Ethernet services as wholesale offering. "The market was earlier largely limited to point-to-point or E-Line circuits and metro access being wholesaled," says the analyst. "Carriers now have EVPL & VPLS included in their wholesale offering, along with EPL that still represents the largest market opportunity."

In the mobile backhaul space, carrier Ethernet services are still in the early phase of adoption and wireline service providers are seeing 10 GigE penetration at the switching sites and, at the individual cell sites, the demand for Ethernet circuits vary from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps. However, the greatest demand is for connectivity from cell sites to switching centers. The market has grown from zero to a commendable demand in 2009, owing to the diligent work put in by mobile operators during 2007 and 2008. As the wholesale Ethernet market migrates from low-speed ports to high-speed ports, particularly 1 GigE, the service will experience significant price decline, reducing overall market revenues. The price decline for high-speed ports 1 GigE and 10 GigE is expected to slow toward the end of 2011, leading to price stabilization in the market. Frost & Sullivan expects 1 GigE and 10 GigE services to drive significant demand in the market, which will offset the price decline. Fewer ports will be sold as demand for low speed ports declines, but the high speed ports sold will command a higher price, resulting in higher revenue for ports sold.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research: