Ethernet-Over-Copper May Be A Short-Term Opportunity: TechWeb

While Ethernet-over-copper (EoC) technologies can offer cost-effective solutions for vendors, operators, and customers that are unable or unwilling to invest in fibre deployment, it may not hold against the promises of fibre deployments, according to the latest report from Light Reading Insider, a paid research service of TechWeb’s Light Reading.

‘Ethernet Over Copper: A Growing but Uncertain Market’ looks at the evolution of the EoC market, assessing some of the big trends that are impacting prospects for EoC technology. The report looks at how the technology is evolving, and how vendors are stepping up to the challenge of delivering Ethernet services (as opposed to fat pipes). It compares the technologies leading EoC vendors have decided to offer, and how the platforms and approaches to the market vary.

“A steady stream of contract announcements over the past year shows that telecom operators increasingly see the provision of EoC as a viable and attractive new revenue opportunity,” says Simon Sherrington, research analyst for Light Reading Insider. Few operators are willing to invest in fibre deployment, allowing copper to emerge as a solution. “Operators have embraced EoC technology because it helps them sweat their existing infrastructure assets at a time of economic uncertainty.”

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Customers are seeking more cost-effective ways to meet their Ethernet demands, and EoC may be their answer, Sherrington notes. “Enterprise customers increasingly want Ethernet, but they do not all want to pay for fibre, so there is a demand-side pressure to introduce a workable solution,” Sherrington says. “Technologies for the delivery of EoC have evolved to cope with greater need for scale, and the need to become a serious service delivery platform.” These technologies will work well with applications that have limited tolerance for network-induced errors such as latency or jitter.

Key findings of ‘Ethernet Over Copper: A Growing but Uncertain Market’ include:

- Long-term prospects for EoC specialists depend largely on trends beyond their control, such as the rates of fibre deployment, mobile data growth, and the introduction of EoC into more DSLAMs and multiservice access solutions

- Vendors are adding value by emphasising service-delivery capabilities and offering wider OAM support from demarcation device to demarcation device – the degree of support is currently a differentiator

- The market is showing robust growth, with demand for both Ethernet over bonded legacy circuits and Ethernet over bonded dry copper pair

- EoC has been established as a good solution for businesses that want something between DSL and fibre