8/29/2005 -- Juniper Networks this month announced that its 1,000th T-Series core router will be deployed in KT, a leading South Korean telecommunications service provider.

To date, Juniper’s T-Series routers have been deployed in over 100 service provider production networks around the world.

Juniper and Cisco Systems Inc. together own almost 97 percent of the core router market, but with its 1,000th T-Series milestone, Juniper hopes to highlight the inroads it’s made at Cisco’s expense.

Analysts, on the other hand, tend to see Juniper’s milestone as a validation of the market for Terabit-sized routers. “The number of vendors that support a Terabit-level core IP service router is small,” says Jeff Ogle, a principal analyst for carrier infrastructure with consultancy Current Analysis, citing Avici, Cisco, Chiaro and Juniper Networks. “Together, these vendors have nearly 99 percent of the core router market, with Cisco and Juniper together controlling 96.9 percent.”

That’s not to take anything away from Juniper’s achievement, of course. “Having achieved this level of product shipment in approximately four years is also significant, since it is an indication that the current run rate for the T-Series is probably in the range of 400 units over the last year. These units are the most expensive platforms Juniper offers and they provide a significant portion of its product revenues,” Ogle points out.

Cisco, for the record, is still tops in the Terabit router segment, with nearly 68 percent of overall share. But with 29.8 percent of the market, Juniper is number two -- and gaining, says Ogle. “Juniper has been growing its market share at Cisco’s expense, a trend that Cisco is struggling to reverse. To compete more effectively against the T-Series, Cisco introduced its new core router product, the CRS-1, in June of 2004,” he writes. “In one year’s time, Cisco reports having shipped 100 [CRS-1] units and states that the demand is strong.”

At this point, Ogle states, there’s no way to tell whether CRS-1 will help Cisco reverse this trend. It’s possible, after all, that Cisco’s router behemoth might also be siphoning sales away from its own 12000 Series offerings. “Either way, the numbers show that there is market demand for Terabit-level multi-chassis routers, and the demand continues to grow,” Ogle says. -Stephen Swoyer