Carrier Ethernet is already booming, but in 2008, the growth in services and the further penetration of Ethernet into public networks will continue unabated, and possibly stronger than ever. But you already knew this, right?
The big news in 2008 regarding carrier Ethernet will revolve around new technology flavors. Some carriers already have committed to provider backbone transport, and in the coming year, we'll see many more evaluate PBT and alternative transport-multiprotocol label switching. I do believe the three largest U.S. telcos will commit to PBT or T-MPLS deployments during 2008. And with carrier Ethernet becoming broadly available, bandwidth management and quality will be the key technology themes driving new product launches.