10/6/2009 -- The latest carrier Ethernet market research must be music to the ears of Cisco Systems Inc. Market watchers estimate that carriers will spend a cumulative $146 billion over the next half-decade.

All in all, researchers suggest, the carrier Ethernet segment isn't simply defying the hostile economic climate-- it's flat-out repudiating it.

That's great news for Cisco, the current worldwide leader in carrier switches, routers and edge routers. The chief driver, experts say, is the ongoing transition from a time division multiplexing (TDM)-based network infrastructure to a packet-based network infrastructure.

"Carrier Ethernet technology is integral to service provider IP next-gen network projects aimed at transforming from TDM- to packet-based networks to handle ever-growing consumer, business, mobile backhaul and video traffic," said Michael Howard, a principal analyst with Infonetics Research, in a statement.

Howard and Infonetics expect this trend to persist through at least 2013: "Service provider investment in carrier Ethernet continues to defy the economic downturn and outpace overall telecom capital expenditure investments. Over the five years from 2009 to 2013, we expect service providers worldwide to spend a cumulative $146 billion on carrier Ethernet equipment."

Cisco is the overall carrier Ethernet leader in just about every segment, but Howard and Infonetics list rival Juniper Networks as a "strong second" in the core routers space.

Carriers are primarily investing in IP core and edge routers, along with Ethernet switches and optical assets, according to Infonetics.

Intriguingly, Ethernet microwave -- which has emerged as a popular transport for mobile backhaul applications -- was the single fastest growing carrier Ethernet technology, the market watcher concludes. --Stephen Swoyer