Probe predicts significant growth in enterprise data services for Western Europe

16 April 2003 Cedar Knolls, NJ Lightwave -- It is good news all around for the enterprise data services market in Western Europe. Probe Research expects the market to grow at a healthy 15.5% CAGR between 2003 and 2008. Frame Relay will continue to grow over the next few years; however, the Internet Protocol (IP) virtual private networking (VPN) market will surpass it as IP continues to attract new customers.

"MPLS has emerged as the preferred protocol going forward for the provision of class of service guarantees over IP networks, with the goal of offering the security and performance of Frame but the flexibility and cost effectiveness of IP," explains Probe analyst John Marcus. "Nearly all global carriers and many national and regional carriers have embarked on or completed building MPLS networks, and the result has fueled the growth of IP VPN services."

Marcus notes that a hybrid approach offering IP services over Frame networks or Frame access to an MPLS core network has emerged to allow legacy customers a transition approach, which does not necessarily require swapping out equipment on the customer's premises. With the recent announcement that the Frame Relay Forum and the MPLS Forum will merge, there is added industry momentum behind the complementary coexistence and eventual migration between the two technologies.

That said, Marcus's research concludes that even though Frame Relay is a mature market, it will continue to prosper in the near term. High growth has continued until recently, and even now the market is still growing, albeit more modestly.

For more information about the report, "Frame Relay versus IP VPN Markets in Western Europe," visit www.proberesearch.com.