10G, 100G Ethernet services revenue to grow 300 percent by 2018, says Infonetics

Revenue from Ethernet services delivered on 10GE and 100GE is forecast by Infonetics Research to grow 300 percent between 2013 and 2018.

Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics, reports that Ethernet is gaining the upper hand over IP MPLS-based VPN services, growing nearly "twice as fast as IP MPLS VPNs through 2017."

Howard said that "Ethernet services continued to gain momentum in 2013, easily outpacing IP MPLS VPN services."

Another element that will drive further Ethernet growth will be the advent of software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies.

"Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies will change the way service providers operate their networks and, more important, how they deliver services," Howard said. "The biggest change will come in the types of security services offered over IP MPLS VPNs and Ethernet services--for example, firewalls, SSL VPNs, intrusion detection, parental controls--and the pace at which they're made available."

On a combined basis, global Ethernet services and IP MPLS VPN services markets totaled $62.6 billion in 2013, up 12 percent from 2012. What's driving the growth of these two segments are enterprises' movement to access cloud services via IP VPN, Ethernet services, and Ethernet-based wireless backhaul.

From a regional perspective, Asia Pacific made up the biggest share of Ethernet services revenue in 2013 and will continue to do so through 2018.

For more:
- see the release

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