Next-generation SONET/SDH market to net nearly $18 billion by 2006

The market for traditional SONET/ SDH equipment will drop from its $17.4-billion mark in 2000 to just $4.6 billion in 2006, most of which will be sales to fill excess capacity on legacy networks, says a new report from KMI Corp. (Providence). Network engineers will turn instead to next-generation technology to meet their SONET/ SDH needs.

According to KMI analysts, emerging network trends in 2000 and 2001 included the need for better aggregation equipment at the edge of the network, the migration of optical solutions to access networks, cost- competitiveness of next-generation equipment, and the move to adopt more efficient technologies and the usage of existing deployments.

These trends helped push the adoption of next-generation equipment over traditional SONET/SDH systems. Next-generation SONET/ SDH equipment is projected to grow steadily through the forecast period, reaching nearly $18 billion in annual sales by 2006.

Next-generation equipment will also make inroads into the digital-crossconnect (DXC) market, concludes the report. The flexible platforms and switching capability of next-generation equipment make it ideally suited for DXC functions. However, the emergence of new technologies like optical crossconnects and super-band switches will lead to the decline of the SONET/SDH DXC market from its $4-billion mark in 2000 to $2.6 billion in 2006.

For more on KMI's report, "Optical Networking: SONET/ SDH/Next-Generation Equipment Report Update," visit www.kmicorp.com.