Telecom service provider router and switch revenue — including IP edge and core routers and carrier Ethernet switches (CES) – dipped 4 percent to $3.9 billion in Q2 2014, said Infonetics Research.

The IP edge router, IP core router, and CES segments had double-digit revenue gains sequentially.

On a year-over-year basis, EMEA is the only region to achieve positive revenue growth (+3 percent) in the carrier router and switch market, while all regions-North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and CALA-are rose quarter over quarter.

Cisco is leading the telecom service provider router and switch revenue market in Q2 2014.

Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and Juniper are the other leading players.

Infonetics expects global service provider router and switch revenue to grow at a 2.8 percent CAGR from 2013 to 2018.

Global telecom service providers are going slow with their router spending habits as massive network transformation goals involving software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) translate into specific activities and milestones.

Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research, said: “Core router upgrades and replacements prompted by the move to 100GE and paired with many aging core routers drove the core router segment to 11 percent sequential growth in the second quarter of 2014. Core routers will stay positive for the full year.

Earlier, in an Infonetics survey, telecom operators rank network vendors of carrier Ethernet switches and routers based on 10 specific criteria: technology innovation, security, management software, price to performance ratio (value), product reliability, pricing, product roadmap, financial stability, solution breadth, and service and support.

The survey said over 80 percent of service provider router and switch spending is on edge routers and carrier Ethernet switches (CES)

Baburajan K
[email protected]