40G Market Moves to Generalized Deployment Phase

(Business News & Technology News, 26 Nov 2008)

"After many years of waiting, the 40G market is finally moving to a generalized deployment phase. Consumer demand, mostly driven by video, is stressing network capacities and as long as this dynamic stays in place, 40G deployments will continue to see healthy growth," says Ron Kline, Research Director at Ovum and author of the latest 40G/100G analysis. "What's most important now is that the industry works to reduce the cost for 40G in order to move the market towards mass adoption."

After years of technology development, product announcements, and trials, the 40G market is finally moving to a new phase. Globally, over 30 network operators have spent more than $250 million since 2005 deploying the technology. Nortel introduced its DP QPSK to the market in April 2008 and has already gained over 30 customers; the technology is highly regarded by both carriers and competitors. Further, the Optical Internetworking Forum industry group announced in August 2008, that it had selected DP QPSK as the standardized modulation format for 100G long-distance DWDM transmission, a move welcomed by component suppliers, as it makes their investment cases easier to justify.

The largest 40G application by volume thus far is for router-to-router interconnect. Comcast and AT&T have the largest commercial deployments, but government-funded defense and research networks have contributed significantly to revenues. "Global revenue for 40G line cards in 2007 was $178 million and we expect the market to grow 48 percent annually through 2013," says Kline.

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