Industry news

Optical networking market booms, says analyst

The optical networking market grew by almost one quarter (23 per cent) year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008, one research firm has said.

Ovum revealed that despite dropping by 12 per cent in the fourth quarter last year, the market reached $3 billion (£1.55 billion) in terms of equipment sales for the first three months of this year.

The analyst explained that optical networking is used to consolidate different services into a single network, while supporting enterprise services growth.

Dana Cooperson, vice president of optical networking at Ovum, said every region spent more on the technology in the first quarter of 2008 than they did during the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile, research released this month by public network firm iLocus revealed that enterprises are investing more in VoIP technologies this year despite current fears about the economy.

It found an increase of more than two thirds (67 per cent) in the number of VoIP access server licences shipped globally.