Shipments of DWDM, Sonet and digital cross connects totalled $12.3 billion in 1999.

July 20, 2000

1 Min Read
RHK Reports 56% Market Growth

New figures from research and consulting firm RHK Inc. indicate that the optical transport market, comprising DWDM (dense wave division multiplexing), Sonet, and digital cross-connect equipment, grew 56 percent last year, to total $12.3 billion for 1999.

The firm says growth within each segment of the market was also significant: DWDM gear sales climbed by 65 percent; Sonet by 62 percent; and DACS by 23 percent. RHK says that kind of growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

These figures are used as a yardstick by carriers to assess whether they're investing enough in their infrastructure, according to Vivian Hudson, VP of high-capacity optical networks at Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/TSE: NT). If carriers didn't increase spending on optical transport equipment by 56 percent last year, they were falling behind their competitors, Hudson says.

This is baloney according to Paul Savill, VP of network planning at Williams Communications, Inc.. RHK's figures don't help Williams judge whether it's over or under spending on infrastructure, he says. They help it assess whether suppliers have got sufficient capacity to meet delivery commitments.

According to RHK, Nortel and rival Lucent Technologies Inc. dominate the North American market for optical transport.

North American Data Transport Market Revenue, 1999 Total: $12.3 B -- by Mary Jander, senior editor, Light Reading http://www.lightreading.com

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