Ethernet Services Growth Outpaces IP MPLS VPNs

Ethernet Services Growth Outpaces IP MPLS VPNs

Posted in News, Ethernet/ MPLS, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Market Research, Cloud Services, Security, Software Defined Networking, Virtualization

Ethernet is on a serious roll.

A new Infonetics Research report predicts that the global Ethernet services and IP MPLS VPN services markets totaled $62.6 billion last year, up from 12 percent in 2012.

Cloud services – accessed via IP VPNs, Ethernet services and mobile backhaul transport over Ethernet services – are a big reason for the momentum.

"Ethernet services continued to gain momentum in 2013, easily outpacing IP MPLS VPN services. Both segments are growing at a healthy clip and will continue to do so, with Ethernet services growing about twice as fast as IP MPLS VPNs through 2017," noted Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

Infonetics predicts revenue from Ethernet services delivered on 10GE and 100GE will grow a whopping 300 percent between 2013 and 2018. Asia Pacific was responsible for the biggest share of Ethernet services revenue, and will continue to be through 2018.

Continued development of new technology will pave the way for the continued growth of Ethernet and IP MPLS VPN services.

"Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies will change the way service providers operate their networks and, more important, how they deliver services," Howard said. “The biggest change will come in the types of security services offered over IP MPLS VPNs and Ethernet services-for example, firewalls, SSL VPNs, intrusion detection, parental controls – and the pace at which they're made available."

"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."