Seven service providers were named to Vertical Systems Group’s (VSG) global carrier Ethernet Leaderboard for 2021, with Orange Business Services replacing AT&T in the top spot.
The companies each had a 4% or higher share of billable retail ports at sites outside of their home countries. In order, they are Orange Business (headquarters in France), Colt (U.K.), Verizon (U.S.), AT&T (U.S.), Lumen (U.S.), BT Global Services (U.S.) and NTT (Japan).
Four of the seven ranked companies changed position, according to VSG. Orange Business Services, the new leader, jumped up from third place. AT&T, which had held the top spot since 2018, dropped to the fourth position in 2021. Verizon moved from fifth to third and Lumen from fourth to fifth.
The port base for share calculations increased marginally in 2021 after pandemic-related declines in the previous two years.
The Challenge Tier – which includes companies with market shares between 2% and 4% outside their home territories — was unchanged since last year. It consists, in alphabetical order, of Cogent (U.S.), Global Cloud Xchange (India), GTT (U.S.), SingTel (Singapore), T-Systems (Germany), Tata Communications (India), Telefonica (Spain) and Vodafone (U.K.).
“Global customer demand for Ethernet networks is slowly recovering, however, we expect continued volatility ahead due to unstable economic and geopolitical conditions worldwide,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group principal, said in a press release. about the VSG Global Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard. “Latest share results are tight across the top providers competing in this highly specialized global segment of the Ethernet services market.”
The Market Player tier consists of providers with port share below 2% outside their home countries. A non-exhaustive alphabetized list: Bell (Canada), CAT Telecom (Thailand), China Telecom (China), Claro Enterprise Solutions (Mexico), CMC Networks (South Africa), Comcast (includes Masergy) (U.S.), Embratel (Brazil), Epsilon (Singapore), euNetworks (U.K.), Exponential-e U.K.), Globe (Philippines), GlobeNet (Brazil), HGC Global (Hong Kong), Indosat Ooredoo (Indonesia), KDDI (Japan), Korea Telecom (Korea), PCCW Global (Hong Kong), PLDT Global (Philippines), Retelit (Italy), Sparkle (Italy), StarHub (Singapore), Syringa Networks (U.S.), T-Mobile (U.S.), TM One (Malaysia), Telia (Sweden), Telin (Singapore), Telstra (Australia), Virgin Media (U.K.) and Zayo (U.S.).
VSG said that Leaderboard companies Orange Business Services, Colt, Verizon, Lumen and BT Global Services attained MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet certification. The firm also found that demand for Ethernet DIA connections is spiking due to global SD-WAN rollouts. Conversely, Ethernet access to VPN connectivity is declining due to migration from MPLS.
Lumen, which finished fifth on the Leaderboard, said in April that it will bring Ethernet services to more than 40 cities by year’s end. The company said that 30 Gbps Ethernet services had been rolled out to nine cities and nine more were slated for early last month.
