IDC Finds Bright Spot

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Despite the gloom cast over much of optical networking, the multiservice provisioning platform (MSPP) market is emerging as a major growth area. According to a new study from IDC, the MSPP segment -- already a billion-dollar market -- will jump to $6 billion in 2005. This growth in MSPPs will occur despite the slowdown in other segments of the optical equipment industry and could actually get a boost from the telecom downturn. "With CLEC markets drying up, optical vendors across the board are repositioning themselves to appeal to the incumbent service providers, the ILECs and the IXCs, that have money to buy equipment," said Sterling Perrin, analyst for IDC's optical networks program. "It is apparent that these carriers aren't going to give up their SONET infrastructures any time soon, and that's good news for the MSPP vendors that have based their products on SONET." MSPPs are next-generation SONET devices that combine the functionality of multiple network elements in a single box, including SONET multiplexers, DWDM terminals, distributed digital cross connects, Layer 2 switches, and IP routers. Positioned at the edge of the metropolitan service provider's network, these devices are replacements for the substantial installed base of legacy SONET/SDH multiplexer equipment that is ill-suited to handle the growing volume of data traffic in carrier networks. Compared to their legacy cousins, SONET MSPPs are cheaper, more flexible at adjusting to changing traffic patterns, and faster at provisioning services. IDC