Calling 100Gbit/s transport "unstoppable," an Infonetics Research Inc. report released Wednesday says carriers want the technology in both new and old networks, putting some evidence behind anectodes about impatient 100Gbit/s demand.

For the report, titled "40G/100G Wavelength Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey," analyst Andrew Schmitt pinged carriers that represent 28 percent of global capex.

Why this matters
Demand for 100Gbit/s in greenfield networks was never in doubt. What's interesting is that carriers are anxious to get 100Gbit/s into their current networks as well.

In fact, the study confirmed that 40Gbit/s is being viewed as a stopgap, something to be replaced by 100Gbit/s once the latter is more widely available. Schmitt has been arguing for a couple of years that the 40Gbit/s generation will be a short one.

One interesting side note: Non-coherent 100Gbit/s -- being pitched by vendors such as ADVA Optical Networking as a cheaper alternative for metro-like distances -- "isn't yet viewed as an important technology," as the Infonetics release puts it. (See ADVA Offers a Cheaper 100G.)

For more
To track the progress of 100Gbit/s networing, visit http://www.lightreading.com/100g.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading