Operators name Ciena top optical equipment vendor in new survey

CAMPBELL, California, November 15, 2011—Market research firm Infonetics Research today released excerpts from its November 2011 Optical Equipment Features and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, for which service providers rate equipment companies and name the top three vendors in the optical transmission and switching space, in 40G/100G transmission technology, and in the next gen packet-optical transport system (P-OTS) space.

ANALYST NOTE

"Amidst the noise of marketing lingo and endless positioning, in the end the only thing that matters is what customers perceive and the decisions they make as a result. Our annual optical leadership survey is an attempt to cut through the chatter by gathering service providers' opinions on which optical equipment companies are the leaders and on future needs in important areas like 40G/100G and next-gen P-OTS," explains Andrew Schmitt, directing analyst for optical at Infonetics Research.

Schmitt adds: "One of the surprising results of this survey is that control plane features are a critical area of differentiation, named by more service providers than cost (!) as one of the three most important features that sets vendors apart from others when evaluating an optical supplier."

OPTICAL VENDOR LEADERSHIP SURVEY HIGHLLIGHTS

• Ciena tops the list of vendors service providers consider to be leaders in 40G and 100G optical technology, next gen packet-optical transport systems (P-OTS), and overall optical transmission and switching
• Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Infinera, and Nokia Siemens Networks also received high marks from service providers in all three areas: optical transmission and switching, 40G/100G, and next gen P-OTS
• Infinera and Nokia Siemens Networks are the only vendors being evaluated for future optical purchases by a larger number of customers than have them currently installed
• Infinera is familiar to fewer respondents but scores higher than Cisco in several optical leadership categories
• When asked to rate important vendor characteristics when evaluating optical suppliers, fewer service providers named ‘service and support’ and ‘vendor stability’ than some of optical vendors were expecting

OPTICAL SURVEY SYNOPSIS

For its Optical Vendor Leadership Survey, Infonetics interviewed 10G/40G/100G optical transmission and switching equipment purchase decision makers at 18 incumbent carriers, competitive operators and mobile operators from around the world in September and October 2011. Combined, the respondents represent 22% of the world’s public carrier revenue and 20% of the world’s carrier capex. Service providers responded to a broad range of questions, from optical equipment suppliers installed and under evaluation to vendor familiarity level, vendor selection criteria, and top vendors. The survey includes an optical equipment vendor leadership scorecard that rates suppliers based on six criteria: technology, pricing, service and support, management tools, R&D roadmap, and total cost of ownership.

• Telecom capex up 6% to $311 billion in 2011, revenue up 8% to $1.86 trillion, driven by mobile broadband
• Huawei expands lead, Cisco shines in weak 3Q11 for optical network equipment market
• White Paper: The 100G era is approaching fast as carriers ‘reboot’ their optical networks
• Optical transceiver market up 35% in 1H11 over 1H10; 100G ramp-up will be faster than 40G
• ROADM WSS component market contracts in 1H11, causing big vendor market share shift
• Optical network hardware gains 21% year-over-year in Q2, Huawei and ZTE surge
• OTN survey reveals huge shift in carrier plans for optical switching

UPCOMING OPTICAL RESEARCH

Download prospectuses, tables of contents, highlights, etc. at http://www.infonetics.com/login (see OPTICAL for 2011 and new 2012 services).

• 40G/100G Wavelength Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey
• OTN Market Outlook Report
• Q3 Optical Network Hardware Market Size, Forecasts, and Analysis Report

SALES

• Larry Howard, VP (West NA, APAC, CALA): larry@infonetics.com, +1 408-583-3335
• Scott Coyne, Sr. Account Dir. (East NA, Texas, Midwest): scott@infonetics.com, +1 408-583-3395
• George Stojsavljevic, Sr. Account Dir. (EMEA): george@infonetics.com, +44 755-488-1623
• Takashi Kimura, TAK Analytics, Sales (Japan): takashi.kimura@takanalytics.com, +81 3-6408-5566
• Hinton Information Services, Taiwan: www.hintoninfo.com.tw, +886-2-2799-3110 x220
• Doug Moon, MBAP Sales, Korea: dougm@mbap.co.kr, +82-2-3453-9400

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete more effectively.

Follow Infonetics on Twitter for the latest headlines: http://twitter.com/infonetics.

# # #