Orange Business bumps AT&T out of top spot in Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard

French operator Orange Business ended AT&T’s three-year run at the top of Vertical Systems Group’s Global Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard, as the U.S. operator fell all the way to fourth place.

The latest report for year-end 2021 showed Orange Business returning to the number one seat, which it last held in 2017. U.K. operator Colt was in second place with U.S. player Verizon following in third. The top seven were rounded out by AT&T, Lumen Technologies, BT Global Services and Japan’s NTT. Verizon’s third place ranking was an improvement from its fifth position in 2020, while Lumen fell one spot. Colt has remained in the number two seat since at least 2015, while AT&T had previously held first place from 2018 to 2020.

A number of other recognizable names trailed in the Challenger Tier, including Cogent, Global Cloud Xchange, GTT, SingTel, T-Systems, Tata Communications, Telefonica and Vodafone.

According to Vertical Systems Group’s methodology, companies on the leaderboard hold a 4% or higher market share of billable retail ports at sites outside of their home countries. Those in the Challenger tier hold between 2% and 4%.

More than two dozen companies, including Comcast, T-Mobile and Zayo, were listed in the Market Player tier. This group includes those who have 2% market share or less.

Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group, noted in a statement its latest share results are “tight across the top providers competing in this highly specialized global segment of the Ethernet services market.”

Vertical Systems Group said its research shows enterprise demand for Ethernet Dedicated Internet Access connections has jumped due to an uptick in global SD-WAN rollouts while VPN connectivity is sliding.

Malone said globally, “customer demand for Ethernet networks is slowly recovering” after slumping in 2020 due to pandemic-related factors like supply chain issues. “However, we expect continued volatility ahead due to unstable economic and geopolitical conditions worldwide,” he concluded.

Though AT&T lost its crown in the Global Provider Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard, it remained at the top of a few other key lists, including Vertical Systems Group’s 2021 U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings and 2021 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN rankings.