Business VoIP

Though revenue from optical transport equipment is expected to decline this year, the market will rebound in 2010 and continue growing for the following three years, a Redwood City, California-based research firm reportedly says.

 

Officials at Dell’Oro Group say worldwide revenue from the data-carrying fiber technology will drop 9 percent in 2009 but will grow to reach $14.5 billion in 2013.

 

According to Jimmy Yu, director of optical transport research at the firm, the economy of most major countries is in a recession, and the consensus belief is that this recession may last through 2009.

 

“While the near term outlook is for the total optical market to contract 9 percent due to factors such as the economic downturn, there continues to be an opportunity for technologies that will help service providers reduce their capital expense while still expanding their network capacity,” Yu said. “We think that 40 Gigabit is one of those technologies as the price per bit of a 40 Gbps wavelength starts to be lower than that of a 10 Gigabit wavelength in a DWDM Long Haul system.”

 

Specifically, Yu’s “5-Year Forecast Report” calls for shipments of 40 Gbps wavelengths to grow at least 50 percent in each of the next five years and contribute nearly one-third of the capacity shipped in DWDM Long Haul systems by 2013.

 

As a technology that researchers say helps companies reduce capital expenses in this slower economy, optical transport joins VoIP, mobility, telepresence and other video-based communications solutions.

 

As TMC (News - Alert) President Rich Tehrani says in a blog entry this week, one way that all companies can hang on to existing customers and gain market share in this recession is by generating positive news.

 

“If sales are generally good now, it makes even more sense to focus on putting a halo around your brand to protect it from bad times which may or may not be ahead,” Tehrani writes. “Customer wins, new product launches, a new green data center, a widget that does something useful – if you have any of these, issue a release and try to get some positive media coverage.”

 

So companies must continue to market, Tehrani said, and honestly ask themselves this question: “Would you buy from you?”

 

If the Dell’ (News - Alert)Oro group is right, then optical transport equipment makers are poised to gain market share now, as the segment is expected to rebound in 12 months.

 

“The Dell’Oro Group 5-Year Forecast Report offers a complete overview of the Optical Transport industry with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, unit shipments Tributary/Line or Wavelength shipments,” officials at the firm say. “The report tracks DWDM long haul terrestrial, WDM metro, SONET/SDH, and optical switch equipment.”