Survey Says! - Results of Carrier Ethernet SONET/SDH Displacement Survey are In

CEN Feature (May 24 2011)

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   We wrapped up the Carrier Ethernet SONET/SDH Displacement survey a few days ago, just in time to share the preliminary results with the audience at TIA 2011 last week. Mark McDonald and Don MacNeil of Overture and XO Communications, respectively, led a highly interactive session. We are still analyzing the results and working on a detailed report, but we’ll share a sneak peak at the results in this column today. 

   Given the significant success Carrier Ethernet is having in the market as both a service and in the network infrastructure, we sought to identify the perceived obstacles that are keeping it from fully displacing SONET and SDH at the edge of service providers’ networks. With detailed responses from more than 40 service providers, the results appear to reinforce conventional wisdom in some areas and to finally put to rest some earlier concerns about Carrier Ethernet in others.  So, what did we learn?

   First, we can report that service provider CapEx spending on Carrier Ethernet equipment seems to be overtaking spending on SONET/SDH in transport applications. More than 65 percent of respondents stated that they plan to purchase less SONET/SDH equipment than they do Carrier Ethernet equipment in the next 18 months, with only 14 percent expecting to spend more on SONET/SDH than on Carrier Ethernet.

   When asked how well-suited Carrier Ethernet technology is for various applications, respondents overwhelmingly – nearly 100 percent agreement – indicated support for Carrier Ethernet in the access portion of the network, while closer to 80 percent support its use in the core. When queried about their comfort level in deploying Carrier Ethernet for mission-critical 10 Gbps infrastructure in their own corporate networks, just over 60 percent responded with “agree” or “strongly agree.”

   When trying to identify which specific obstacles were holding back Carrier Ethernet, survey participants indicated that reliability, performance, quality of service, and timing/synchronization are still perceived as extremely important factors. Interestingly, two early issues with Carrier Ethernet rollouts – IT systems integration and not fitting into the service provider’s operation model – no longer appear to be important factors. 

   In the coming weeks we’ll get into more details, so, please stay tuned.

   D. Mark Durrett is Editor of Carrier Ethernet News
   

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