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When it comes to both current and projected sales activity related to Ethernet, a new report from Telarus channel partners is showing that the word of the day is “rising.” While some parts of the report in question seemed to indicate the opposite, looking at the full report made it unquestionably clear: Ethernet is turning in a progressively larger portion of partner revenue.

In 2011, half of partners surveyed revealed that Ethernet was accounting for between 1 and 20 percent of revenue. In 2012, meanwhile, that number actually fell to 4 out of 10 partners, which may make it seem like a drop. But in reality, that missing partner, on average, had gone to the next bracket up, the “21 percent and up” bracket. That particular bracket saw respondents go from three in 10 to fully five in 10 just from 2011 to 2012. What's more, the number of partners who saw no income from Ethernet sales actually fell on a regular basis, and the numbers of those making money from Ethernet sales are showing no signs that the development will slow. Current projections suggest that, for 2013, 6 in 10 respondents will show up in the “21 percent and up” bracket, and those making no revenue from Ethernet sales will fall to under 1 in 10.

Not surprisingly, the biggest drive for these impressive growth numbers comes largely from the increased demand at the customer level for more bandwidth. Ethernet, meanwhile, has both the kind of availability and versatility required to deliver the necessary bandwidth, making it a prime target for future development. The growth of competition in terms of bandwidth offerings—as well as the opportunity to provide bandwidth to more and larger customers—is prompting those in the market to increase focus on bandwidth sales.

It's not surprising to see an increase in demand for bandwidth, as more things these days run on it. Between the bring your own device (BYOD) doctrine many companies are moving to, the increased use of video conferencing platforms and similar systems like Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and the rapidly increasing remote workforce phenomenon, a lot more of everyday life than ever runs on sheer bandwidth. Work, play, even rest is powered by Internet bandwidth, and that makes Ethernet a very valuable commodity.

It's also a commodity not likely to decrease in value, either. So, chances are, the next few years of channel partners reports will continue to see big gains in the field of Ethernet sales as more and more business and residential users demand more and more of that precious bandwidth.