The OTN switching segment of the market grew 37% in 2013, according to a new report from Infonetics Research that tracks optical transport network (OTN) switching and transport equipment and packet-optical transport systems (P-OTS).
- Worldwide overall OTN revenue totaled $8 billion in 2013, or 66% of all optical network hardware spending
- The market for P-OTS equipment came to $1.7 billion in 2013, split fairly evenly between metro edge and metro regional P-OTS gear
- P-OTS revenue grew 32% between the second half of 2012 and the second half of 2013
- Infonetics projects the OTN switching segment to grow at about a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2013 to 2018
“OTN switching had a major year of growth in 2013 as service providers prioritized installation of integrated WDM+OTN switching and 100G coherent technology in the core. Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, and Infinera are the key beneficiaries here,” notes Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research. “Meanwhile, Chinese carriers continue to expand large deployments of OTN switching, with Huawei as the sole beneficiary. Over in the P-OTS space, incumbent vendors Cisco, Fujitsu, Tellabs, Ciena, and Alcatel-Lucent are the market leaders, but new players BTI, Cyan, Transmode, and Ericsson are challenging with pure-play P-OTS platforms.”