MSPP Vendors Helping Service Providers Make Metro Ethernet a Reality, Reports In-Stat/MDR.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2003

Despite the recent rise and demise of various Metro Ethernet service providers, Metro Ethernet has established itself as a growing data service, reports In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). The high-tech market research firm reports that Ethernet, which was originally a LAN technology, has grown beyond this local boundary to become part of the Metro Area Network (MAN). Relatively inexpensive, when compared to more traditional MAN networking gear, such as SONET, Ethernet helps facilitate not only lower costs on bandwidth services, but lower Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) as well. As a result, In-Stat/MDR expects that Metro Ethernet services will continue to have a strong growth rate, especially as the need for additional Internet bandwidth rises.

With its ability to add data-centric protocols to the network without disturbing the ongoing, high-margin voice circuits, the Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) will prove to be the best mode by which service providers can provision Metro Ethernet. By either encapsulating Ethernet packets within SONET Payload Envelopes (SPEs) to create Packet-over-SONET (PoS) connections across the MAN, or by sending optical Ethernet directly over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)-enabled optic fibers, MSPPs allow the carrier relatively quick and inexpensive ways to meet the needs of the bubbling data demand market, while not disturbing the high-value circuits and allowing for more revenue potentials over the exact same set of optic fibers. As a result, the MSPP market has been growing for the last four years and will continue to do so over the next five with a double-digit revenue Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) starting from $1.2 billion in 2002.

In-Stat/MDR has also found that:

-- As the market for Metro Ethernet grows, RBOCs will be in the

best overall position to capitalize on this growth. RBOCs own

the largest percentage of fiber optic lines in use today.

Also, the recent FCC Triennial Review should encourage more

RBOC deployments.

-- Due to newer technology inside MSPPs, they can often take up

much less room than the equipment they are replacing. This

allows carriers to re-coup some floor space in congested 

central offices and to perhaps add some value-added services.

-- Thanks to the very protocol-agnostic nature of MSPPs, carriers

can also manage clumsy SONET-based circuits much more easily

than ever before -- and often remotely. This helps carriers to

reduce OpEx, which, in turn, helps them to return to improve

margins.

-- Since MSPPs can make adding Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) to

existing legacy networks a breeze, the roll-out of MSPPs in a

provider's network is likely to bring with it the offering of

GigE services -- as well as other possible services such as

storage.

The report, "Metro Ethernet: Life After the Hype" (#IN030627TX), provides In-Stat/MDR's annual review of Metro Ethernet services. Included in this report are market drivers, challenges and five-year service revenue forecasts. U.S. forecasts include those for both E-LAN and E-Line services. The E-Line forecast is further segmented between Ethernet private line and Ethernet Internet access. Companies covered in this report are: Cogent Communications, Looking Glass Networks, SBC, XO Communications, MCI and Neopolitan Networks. To purchase this report, or for more information, please visit http://www.instat.com/catalog/pcatalogue.asp?id=37, or contact Rick Vogelei at 480-609-4533; [e-mail]. The report price is $2,495.

The report, "MSPPs: Evolution Beats Revolution" (#IN030842WN), is a ground-breaking report that delves into exactly why MSPPs are one of the few bright spots of the ironically dim optical networking market. It includes a worldwide five-year forecast broken down by shipments, ASPs and revenues as well as a summary comparison of popular MSPPs currently being offered. To purchase this report, or for more information, please visit http://www.instat.com/catalog/bcatalogue.asp?id=4, or contact Rick Vogelei at 480-609-4533; [e-mail]. The report price is $2,495.

For a limited time, In-Stat/MDR is offering a special bundled price when both of these reports are purchased together, online. The bundle price is $4,490, a total savings of $500. To take advantage of this offer, please visit: http://www.instat.com/abstracts/IN030627TX_IN030842WN.asp.

About In-Stat/MDR

In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com) offers a broad range of information resources and analytical assets to technology vendors, service providers, technology professionals and market specialists worldwide. The company stands alone in its ability to integrate both supply-side and demand-side research methodologies into a single comprehensive view of technology markets and products. This capability relies on a unique ability to cover the entire value chain from engineering-level technology, through equipment, infrastructure, services and end users.

In-Stat/MDR is part of the Reed Electronics Group, a division of Reed Elsevier (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider. With more than 38,000 employees worldwide, Reed Elsevier operates in the science & medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors, providing high value and flexible information solutions to professional end users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet.