Global Recession Stings Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Market, but Long-Term Outlook...

Global Recession Stings Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Market, but Long-Term
Outlook Is Positive, Heavy Reading Finds

Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Extreme, and Others Have Been Turning Up Heat on Cisco

NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Worldwide sales of carrier Ethernet
switch/routers (CESRs) fell 23 percent quarter-over-quarter and 27 percent
year-over-year in the first quarter of 2009 to $423 million, according to the
Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker service published by
Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), the market research division of
TechWeb's Light Reading.

Heavy Reading now projects the global CESR market to decline by more than 20
percent to $1.75 billion in 2009 but return to growth as the economy begins to
stabilize. Heavy Reading estimates the CESR market has a good chance to reach
$2.74 billion by 2013.

"Carrier Ethernet remains the technology of choice for building converged
telecommunications network solutions because of its extraordinary
performance-price advantages, but the maturing market is not immune to
economic woes that have affected every region, said Stan Hubbard, Senior
Analyst for Heavy Reading and author of the CESR Quarterly Market Tracker.
"The CESR market declined sequentially for the third quarter in a row in 1Q09.
The slowdown actually accelerated due to the combined effect of the worsening
global recession, intensifying vendor competition, lingering chaos in the
credit markets that is forcing network operators to delay upgrades and
expansions, and seasonal capital spending trends.

"Beyond the challenges posed by the dismal global economy, CESR competition
has never been more intense - with about 19 vendors battling for their fair
share of a pie that has contracted beyond what might have been anticipated
just a few quarters ago," said Hubbard. "Numerous competitors armed with
next-generation CESR platforms have been winning new business and trimming
share from market leader Cisco."

Heavy Reading estimates that No. 1 Cisco lost 3 market share points in 1Q09.
No. 2 Alcatel-Lucent and No. 3 Huawei each gained half a point to close at 19
percent and nearly 7 percent, respectively. No. 4 Extreme gained a full share
point in 1Q09 and has recorded consistent share gains on a rolling
four-quarter basis over the past 18 months. No. 5 ZTE, No. 6 Brocade/Foundry,
and No. 7 Hitachi Cable were fairly close to one another in terms of market
share.

Heavy Reading's CESR Quarterly Market Tracker delivers a complete accounting
of telecom equipment manufacturer revenues in CESR sector, including
quarter-by-quarter revenue and market share breakouts for each supplier, sales
by geographic region and application, and revenue projections through 2013 by
region and application. The quarterly tracking service also analyzes each
vendor's market strategy and identifies and analyzes customer wins, providing
granular insight into this emerging market sector unavailable from other
sources. It provides a comprehensive list of more than 280 operators and other
entities around the world that have purchased CESR platforms.

The Heavy Reading report analyzes 18 vendors that are now generating sales
from CESR products or could be in a position to roll out CESR products within
the next 12 months. Equipment vendors examined include Alcatel-Lucent, ANDA
Networks, Ciena, Corrigent Systems, Cisco Systems, ECI Telecom, Ericsson,
Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Hitachi Cable, Huawei Technologies,
Juniper Networks, MRV Communications, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel Networks,
Telco Systems, Tejas Networks, and ZTE.

The CESR Quarterly Market Tracker is distributed in PowerPoint and Excel
formats. Quarterly reports may be purchased individually or as part of an
annual subscription service.

For more information, or to receive a PowerPoint demo of the Carrier Ethernet
Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker, please contact:

Dave Williams
Sales Director, Heavy Reading
858-485-8870
dave.williams@heavyreading.com

Press/analyst contact:
Dennis Mendyk
Managing Director, Heavy Reading
201-587-2154
mendyk@heavyreading.com

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering
quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and
investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis
needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on
next-generation hardware and software.

About TechWeb
TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media,
is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology
decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected
and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than
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Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning
InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology
magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from
next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst
services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of
news distribution and specialist information services with a market
capitalization of more than $1.6 billion.
* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information
distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization
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SOURCE Heavy Reading

Dave Williams, Sales Director, Heavy Reading, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com; Press/analyst contact: Dennis Mendyk, Managing
Director, Heavy Reading, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com