U.S. installations of Ethernet service ports jumped 26% in 2013, according to research from Vertical Systems Group. Port growth was led by strong market demand for higher speed Ethernet access to dedicated IP/MPLS VPN sites.
Ranked by port share, the nine top providers for Ethernet are AT&T, Verizon, tw telecom, CenturyLink, Time Warner Cable, Cox, XO, Comcast and Level 3.
Layer 2/3 service interconnection available from each of the market-leading carriers is being positioned as a network migration solution for existing VPN customers. As a result, this was the fastest growing application overall in 2013 based on new ports installed, the firm said. Cable MSOs drove port growth by targeting small and medium businesses within metro markets, with aggressive offers to upgrade lower speed Internet and point-to-point connections to Ethernet.
Cloud and data center connectivity were key applications for 1Gbps and 10+ Gigabit Ethernet services. Driven by ongoing IT virtualization, there was an uptick in customer purchases of higher speed Ethernet ports during the second half of last year. Ethernet over direct fiber was the most widely deployed access technology for these implementations due to customer requirements for bandwidth scalability and application performance.
“The pace of Ethernet customer port installations in 2013 exceeded expectations,” said Rosemary Cochran, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “Migration of legacy services to Ethernet continued to be the most significant market driver, while cloud connectivity more clearly emerged as a strategic growth opportunity for higher speed Ethernet offerings.”
Delivery of Ethernet over fiber increased in 2013 as providers actively broadened their on-net service footprints. Ethernet providers also expanded use of Ethernet over copper (EoC) and other access alternatives, in addition to network-to-network (NNI) partnerships and wholesale agreements. In response to competitive pressures, providers also focused on improving their Ethernet installation and support processes.
A related finding from the 2013 analysis is that the top-ranked company in each of the three Ethernet provider segments has already gained MEF CE 2.0 service certification; AT&T (incumbent carrier), tw telecom (competitive provider) and Time Warner Cable (cable MSO). Additionally, the fastest growing company, Comcast, was the first to be CE 2.0 certified, meaning that the services comply with the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) framework for facilitating Ethernet deployments, including service delivery across multiple networks.
