9 July 2002 -- Between 2002 and 2006 European service provider expenditures for optical network equipment will grow 103% from USD3.1bn to USD6.3bn and router and switch expenditures 197% from USD1.5bn to USD4.5bn, according to the report "Service Provider Networks: Access, Routing, Switching, and Optical--Europe 2002" by Infonetics Research.
"As in the US, the metro market continues to be the bright spot in Europe," says co-author and European market analyst Richard Webb. "Metro expenditures show strong growth in 2003, and hold a steady growth pattern from 2004 to 2006, as service providers build metro networks to deliver new types of services (storage, tiered QoS, security, VoIP, wireless data, etc) and manage increasing traffic patterns and broadband aggregation."
"Most respondents see broadband as a platform for delivering additional services, which in turn add incremental revenue streams to their broadband undertaking and help alleviate their prime business challenges of revenue growth and profitability," said Kevin Mitchell, co-author and directing analyst for Infonetics Research's service provider networks area. "All respondents who offer broadband services offer additional services over their broadband connections now, with security (VPNs and firewalls) and storage back-up being the most popular."