4/17/2006 -- The metro Ethernet segment went from simmer to gentle boil in less than a year. By 2009. says market watcher Infonetics Research, it’ll be at a full-blown boil, with triple the revenue and a vastly expanded market reach.

Between 2004 and 2005, metro Ethernet revenues nearly doubled -- surging from $2.6 billion to more than $4.9 billion, Infonetics says. By 2009, of course, overall metro Ethernet revenues will nearly triple, with projections in the neighborhood of $15.5 million. That’s one heck of a vote of confidence for metro and for Ethernet in general, Infonetics researchers argue.

“The universal appeal of Ethernet is that it is less expensive than other technologies,” said Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research, in a statement. “Ethernet is becoming an increasingly integral part of metro networks, with equipment spending accumulating almost $49 billion over the five-year period between 2005 and 2009.” As a result, he claims, Ethernet’s ubiquity will only increase as time goes on. “Every year Ethernet will account for a larger portion of metro [capital expenditures], led by phenomenal growth in carrier Ethernet switches and routers...a growing mainstay for providers to deliver Ethernet services.”

To put things in perspective, Infonetics says, Metro Ethernet port shipments will increase by at least 30-fold between 2004 and 2009; not surprisingly, most metro ports will be outfitted for VDSL copper.

Infonetics’ research is good news for the networking industry as a whole: after all, revenue in most metro Ethernet equipment categories grew at a fast rate last year, with carrier Ethernet switches and routers, EPON, Ethernet access devices (EADs), and Ethernet over copper/cable growing at triple-digit rates. Over the next four years, the researcher projects, CESR revenue will more than double, until (by 2009) it comprises almost one-third of the metro Ethernet market entire.

That’s nothing compared to EAD growth, of course. Infonetics expects that this segment, in particular, will explode by almost 650 percent -- triggered in large part by strong Ethernet services uptake. Ethernet over copper and cable revenues are also projected to explode, growing by more than 850 percent through 2009, triggered by what Infonetics laconically describes as “healthy” VDSL deployments in Asia and North America. -Stephen Swoyer