Robust Ethernet service adoption drives revenues to $8.2 billion by 2015

FRAMINGHAM, USA: Adoption rates for Ethernet services are soaring, propelled by superior cost effectiveness, high-bandwidth scalability, ease of implementation, and overall flexibility. According to new research from International Data Corp. (IDC), total US Ethernet revenue will increase from $3.4 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion in 2015.

Datacenter connectivity, disaster recovery/business continuity, and data storage replication are the three primary applications driving adoption of Ethernet. "Enterprises are increasingly utilizing Ethernet services for domestic and international WAN networking," said Nav Chander, research manager, Enterprise Telecom. "The ability to efficiently transport multiple types of traffic -- including voice and video, as well as non-IP-based traffic and storage traffic -- is a key differentiator for Ethernet services within the enterprise."

Growth of Ethernet access as an alternative to leased lines for access to other services, such as to the Internet or IP VPNs, is also contributing to demand. Additionally, Ethernet services are often significantly less expensive than private line or packet services, and lower equipment costs also contribute to overall cost effectiveness.

Other key findings from IDC's research include the following:
* E-Line services make up slightly more than half of the Ethernet services revenue at present.
* Ethernet access market will maintain growth rates above 20 percent during the forecast period.
* More medium-sized enterprises are also adopting Ethernet as they migrate to VoIP, employ storage networking, and access cloud-based services.
* Implementation of hybrid Ethernet and IP VPN networks are a growing trend among enterprises.