In detail: Tracking the 100G path

By Sean Buckley & Samantha Bookman

Which providers have taken the leap and begun upgrading their networks to 100G? Last year saw a flurry of activity in this segment of the broadband market, particularly during the second half of 2011, as providers worldwide began upgrading parts of their network routes to be capable of 100G speeds.

Infonetics noted in a recent research report that providers are showing interest in using 40G and 100G in brownfield environments, but are leaning toward using 100G for greenfield builds.

The big winners, short-term, will likely be network vendors, particularly Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN). Alcatel-Lucent deployed its 100G systems with 23 carriers, while Ciena has 21 of the providers listed here. Other vendors rising up to the 100G challenge include ADVA (XETRA: ADV.DE), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Fujitsu (OTC: FJTSY.PK) and Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN).

But the move to 100G is one whose time has come: Providers held off making such a large capital expenditure for the last couple of years due to a shaky global economy, but technology and demand have both grown to a point that they couldn't avoid an upgrade much longer. And rather than taking a perhaps less costly upgrade to 40G, many are bypassing that step and going straight to 100G.

The reemergence of coherent optics is another big factor in the move to 100G. Once pushed aside in favor of optical amplifiers, the ability of coherent optics to increase signal distance while reducing the need for amplification has helped give 100G a boost in the eyes of providers.

Updated: The chart below lists 48 service providers that are either actively upgrading their networks or trialing 100G. You may also be interested in our eBook, 100 Gbps Networks See the Light, which discusses technologies and strategies for migration to what's rapidly becoming the must-have network for providers.