Carrier Ethernet: Recession Rebel

There have been a number of articles and reports documenting various industry tribulations and major company collapses caused by the worst financial downturn we’ve experienced in recent memory.  It has certainly been a miserable couple of years for many in the IT industry, but Carrier Ethernet has proven to be a lone bright spot, shining through all of the doom and gloom in convincing fashion.  Its success has not been by accident, and the force by which it has captured the overall market recently may shed some light on carrier priorities in addition to what companies are looking for to dig themselves out of tough times and prepare to move forward.

Versatile and cost-effective solutions are universally sought after, but the need is extremely amplified now for service providers and network operators looking to hold down costs, while simultaneously answering the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth and flexibility.  A tall task to tackle for sure, but Carrier Ethernet has proven to be the solid solution, enabling transport of Ethernet over various technologies and extending service reach for carriers to access all of their customers.  As we continue to transition from TDM to packet-based networks, Carrier Ethernet’s flexibility will be a critical component in expanding new wirleine and wireless network capabilities for next generation in a cost-effective and reliable manner.

These ideas certainly coincide with our business model here at Overture Networks as we pride ourselves on making Ethernet easy for customers and guiding the overall transition to Carrier Ethernet services and networks.  Anticipating its expanding role, we made an acquisition to address the growing backhaul demands, boosted our product line with new features and are significantly enlarging our team at a time when many companies are scaling back business and innovation.  The focus has paid off for us as we’ve been able to expand business and revenue numbers, but it has also been a huge asset for our customers who depend on our products, now more than ever, to increase service income and streamline operational costs.  In the bigger picture, it has really helped us define what critical role these solutions play in the success and overall performance of modern-day service provider networks.

Its role has been indispensible enough to keep the market for Carrier Ethernet thriving through the recession and industry analysts are expressing an encouraging outlook on its future.  Infonetics Research recently released a report forecasting Carrier Ethernet equipment revenue to grow to over $32 billion in 2014, driven chiefly by the move to IP next-generation network transformation projects and growing traffic (particularly video traffic) from consumer, business and mobile backhaul networks.  Many experts have expressed similar sentiments; applauding Carrier Ethernet’s almost unlimited bandwidth scalability and OAM strengths. Indeed, Carrier Ethernet has remained uniquely flexible and it will definitely play a prominent role in the NGN evolution.  Many are already starting to dust themselves off and put the recession in the rearview.  As innovation looks to again take center stage, Carrier Ethernet will be right there in the forefront helping providers develop new services and take on the challenges that tomorrow may offer.