PHOENIX -– The Service Provider High-End Router market, which Synergy Research Group (SRG) segments to include Service Provider Edge and Service Provider Core router equipment, grew 16 percent in Q3 2003. SRG believes that this growth was driven by Carriers who continue to see the Edge as a strategic investment in offering differentiated services. Overall market share leaders for the quarter included Cisco, Juniper, and Nortel, with market shares of 70, 19, and 6 percent, respectively.

In the Service Provider Edge market segment, Cisco, Juniper, and Nortel were again the market share leaders with 64, 17, and 10 percent, respectively. Furthermore, each Edge sub-segment demonstrated sequential growth: IP Edge Routers increase by 18 percent, Broadband Aggregation increased by 4 percent, and IP Services, which had the largest increase, grew 41 percent.

The Service Provider Core Router market saw the strongest growth in Q3, increasing more than 17 percent over the prior quarter. What’s more, all of the top Core vendors experienced healthy growth with sequential increases - Cisco grew 21 percent; Avici grew 17 percent, and Juniper grew 16 percent.

“In today’s climate, Carriers need to provide more than just access - they need to provide additional services, while maintaining operational cost efficiencies,” said Ray Mota, Chief Research Officer at Synergy Research Group. “And although Carrier spending has been down over the past several years, we are now starting to see signs that the Carrier’s purse strings are loosening with investments in both the Edge and the Core.”

Synergy Research Group Inc.