According to the consulting firm Ovum, the global enterprise Ethernet services market will exceed US$62 billion by 2018, with the segment growing at an annual rate of 13.6 percent since 2012.
At the regional level, the market analysis firm is projecting steady revenue growth for North America at an annual rate of 11 percent through 2018. Meanwhile, the EMEA region, composed of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has a higher growth potential at a rate of 14.9 percent annually. In the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, the growth forecast is at 23.9 percent, based on a growing Ethernet market in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Japan, the largest market in the region, growth is projected to continue at a rate of 5.3 percent.
In Ovum analysts’ opinion, Ethernet and IP VPN are the two essential data-optimized WAN connectivity technologies that are replacing many data connectivity technologies. In that regard, Ovum’s experts note that “the resilient nature of Ethernet service growth is based on numerous factors. Enterprises continue to combine voice and data networks into one converged Ethernet network connection, feel comfortable in doing so, and are happy to benefit from the connectivity savings.”
It is worth mentioning that emerging markets need world-class Ethernet services to address the growing demands raised by international competition. For that reason, the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), an independent organization of approximately 200 members, declared that broadband connectivity has become an essential service — as important as drinking water and electricity — since it drives GDP growth and job creation, as well as improvements to education, health, and social services. This is how access to new technologies in emerging markets is helping these economies to compete on a global scale.
In this context, C&W Networks has recently received the MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE2.0) industry standard certification for E-LINE, E-LAN, E-TREE and E-ACCESS services. This certification enhances the company’s ability to deliver a more dynamic and customized portfolio of Ethernet services to many more places in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it allows C&W to offer the highest standards of performance, management and interoperability. It is worth noting that the company went through a rigorous testing process that involves multiple requirements, including evaluation of bandwidth and performance profiles.
In this sense, emerging Ethernet markets will have a long run ahead in many countries, enabling more businesses to connect to local and global networks.
*Ovum is a market leader research and consulting British firm part of Informa Group, focalized in IT convergence, telecommunications, and media market related studies
