DWDM market to grow 30 percent in 2005IDC

IDC Asia/Pacific predicts that the market for DWDM systems will grow at a compounded annual rate of 30 percent to hit $2.2 billion in 2005, and the market for optical cross-connects will balloon by close to 90 percent, to reach $445.2 million by 2005.

The company's report, titled "DWDM Systems and Optical Cross-connect Market Forecast & Analysis 2000-2005," showed that for the first half of 2001 the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) long-haul DWDM market reached $349 million, while the metropolitan DWDM market reached $29 million. In the cross-connect market, opaque cross-connects accounted for about $26.7 million, while transparent cross-connects accounted for about S$2.2 million.

"DWDM looks set to penetrate the public infrastructure, spreading from long haul networks to metropolitan area networks eventually as increasing bandwidth demands are placed on existing networks. The adoption of optical cross-connects that allows for an all-optical network will continue to be lukewarm until costs come down dramatically," said Justin Santiago, senior analyst, Communications.

Santiago also noted that the service provider community was constantly faced with the challenge of providing adequate bandwidth capacity and generating substantial revenues by providing faster Internet access services, while keeping bandwidth glut to a minimum.