1. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
Service Providers Name
Top Optical Vendors 2012
By Andrew Schmitt
Principal Analyst, Optical
Infonetics Research
INTRODUCTION 2
TOP TAKEAWAYS 2
SERVICE PROVIDER FAMILIARITY WITH VENDORS 3
Exhibit 1: Service Provider Familiarity with Optical Equipment Vendors 3
SERVICE PROVIDERS NAME TOP VENDORS 4
Exhibit 2: Top Three Equipment Vendors 4
Exhibit 3: Top Three Vendors: Coherent (40G/100G+) Transmission Technology 5
Exhibit 4: Top Three Vendors: OTN Switching Technology 6
Exhibit 5: Top Three Vendors: Optical Control Plane Technology (G-MPLS, ASON) 7
IMPORTANT PRODUCT FEATURES THAT SET VENDORS APART 7
Exhibit 6: Evaluating New Vendors—Important Features 8
EQUIPMENT VENDOR LEADERSHIP BY CATEGORY 8
Exhibit 7: Optical Transmission and Switching Equipment Supplier Leadership 9
BOTTOM LINE 9
METHODOLOGY AND DEMOGRAPHICS 9

2. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
“This year’s results are materially different from last year’s, as Alcatel-Lucent
consistently improved its position relative to competitors, particularly in OTN switching
and 40/100G coherent technology, while improving its customer perception on pricing.”
INTRODUCTION
Amidst the noise of marketing lingo and endless positioning, in the end the only thing that matters is what customers perceive and the
decisions they make as a result. Infonetics’ annual optical leadership survey is an attempt to cut through the chatter by discovering
which optical equipment companies are perceived by service providers to be the leaders, and by understanding service providers’
decision criteria hierarchy.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
• Alcatel-Lucent seized several leadership positions after years of dominance by Ciena, and was the most-cited company when
service providers were asked to name overall optical technology leaders and leaders in specific technologies.
• Though Alcatel-Lucent was named most often, Ciena was named as a top-three vendor nearly as often in 40G/100G+ coherent
technology and OTN switching, and was equally recognized in optical control plane technology.
• Huawei is in third place in 40G/100G+ coherent technology and is tied for second in OTN switching, but is the second most-
frequently named company as an overall leader in optical equipment.
• Infinera is consistently in fourth place behind these three larger vendors in most leadership areas and has the best ratio of
“evaluating” versus “installed,” as twice as many respondents are evaluating their systems when compared to those who have
installed them.
• Price and total cost of ownership top the list of criteria for selecting new vendors, and R&D investment and financial stability on
average are dead last. Though respondents generally agree about the importance of price and cost, their rankings of reliability,
financial stability, and R&D investment are across the board.
THE 2012 SURVEY
Each year Infonetics Research surveys service providers for their opinions on which optical vendors are seen as the leaders in a number
of categories. This is a summary of some of the results from our September 2012 Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service
Provider Survey, in which we interviewed 20 service providers globally that represent 28% of 2011 worldwide telecom capex and revenue.
70% of this year’s respondents participated in our 2011 survey as well. This is important to consider when comparing data year over year.
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3. SERVICE PROVIDER FAMILIARITY WITH VENDORS
Though familiarity with a vendor’s offering does not necessarily translate into contract wins, vendors need buyer awareness to be evaluated
as potential vendors. Without a degree of familiarity, vendors don’t even get invited to the table. Respondents rated their familiarity with
each of a list of optical transmission and switching equipment vendors on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is not familiar and 7 is definitely
familiar, a measure called aided awareness. The percentage of respondents rating each vendor a 6 or a 7 or definitely familiar, is shown
in the exhibit below.
Half or more of respondents are familiar with three optical transmission and switching equipment vendors: Alcatel-Lucent (65%),
Huawei (60%), and Ciena (55%), as shown in Exhibit 1. The fragmented nature of the optical equipment business is clearly evident, with
this leading cluster of vendors followed by a few niche providers. Geographical specialization by equipment companies as well as success
in certain carrier verticals has created a balkanized landscape.
Exhibit 1: Service Provider Familiarity with Optical Equipment Vendors
Alcatel-Lucent
Huawei
Ciena
Tellabs
Infinera
Cisco
Nokia Siemens
Networks
ADVA
ZTE
Fujitsu
Ericsson
ECI
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent of Respondents Rating 6 or 7 or “Definitely Familiar”
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
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4. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
SERVICE PROVIDERS NAME TOP VENDORS
In a series of open-ended questions, we asked service providers to name the three leading optical vendors in several categories. This was
followed by a fifth open-ended question asking what features service providers consider to be most important when evaluating new vendors.
Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Huawei Identified as Leaders in Overall Optical Equipment
After taking the top position for the past two years, Ciena ceded the top spot to Alcatel-Lucent, with 18 of 20 respondents naming them
as an industry leader. Ciena, Huawei, and Infinera were named as leaders by roughly the same number of respondents this year and last,
but Alcatel-Lucent rose from 78% to 90%. Following these companies are a number of companies named by one respondent (5%) each.
Exhibit 2: Top Three Equipment Vendors
Alcatel-Lucent
Ciena
Huawei
Infinera
Tellabs
Cisco
Ericsson
Fujitsu
Nokia Siemens
Networks
ZTE
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Percent of Respondents
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
Alcatel-Lucent Takes Top Spot in 40G/100G Transmission Technology
Coherent technology is a major area of R&D focus and differentiation among equipment and component vendors, and is the focus of our
next question, an open-ended one in which respondents named the equipment or component companies they consider to be the three
leaders in coherent 40G/100G+ transmission technology.
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5. As with overall optical leadership, after two years in the top spot Alcatel-Lucent was recognized as the top 40/100G vendor. But rather
than Alcatel-Lucent rising past a stationary Ciena, Alcatel-Lucent gained and Ciena slipped slightly. Some of this may be accountable
to the slightly greater tilt toward EMEA respondents at the expense of North America.
Huawei and Infinera scored about the same as last year, but Cisco vaulted from 11% last year (two respondents) to 30% this year (six
respondents)—a substantial gain, particularly considering the greater EMEA response rate this year. This reflects Cisco’s success with
the coherent 40/100G Coreoptics acquisition.
Exhibit 3: Top Three Vendors: Coherent (40G/100G+) Transmission Technology
Alcatel-Lucent
Ciena
Huawei
Cisco
Infinera
Nokia Siemens
Networks
ZTE
Tellabs
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Percent of Respondents
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
Alcatel-Lucent Posts Surprisingly Good OTN Switching Results
In a new question this year, we asked respondents to who they consider to be the top three vendors in OTN switching technology.
As with our coherent ratings, Alcatel-Lucent edged out Ciena, who tied with Huawei for second. Huawei and Ciena are well known and respected
OTN vendors with the OSN8800 and 5430, respectively, but Alcatel was slow out of the gate relative to these vendors with the upgraded 1830
after the maligned 1870 project. The market appears to view Alcatel-Lucent as a peer to these two companies, which was a surprise.
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6. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
Infinera also posted respectable results, with seven respondents naming them as a leader. Given their smaller relative size, clearly Infinera
has significant mindshare in switching. This is respectable for a company which is commonly thought of as an optical transport innovator.
Though the DTN-X is the flagship OTN switch, the DTN had significant switching features that probably shaped carrier perceptions.
Exhibit 4: Top Three Vendors: OTN Switching Technology
Alcatel-Lucent
Ciena
Huawei
Infinera
Cisco
Fujitsu
Tellabs
ZTE
Nokia Siemens
Networks
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent of Respondents
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
Optical Control Plane Results Mirror OTN Switching Results
Maybe this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, but vendors that ranked well for optical control plane performed well in OTN switching.
Customers evaluating or considering OTN switching are simultaneously looking to upgrade how they manage their networks, and vendors
of OTN products recognize this and are making investments in the software to manage and control these new networks.
One possibility is that the management software is considered to be as important as the OTN switching hardware it is designed to control.
Decisions about deploying OTN switching may also be gated by a carrier’s ability to transition to a new control plane.
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7. Exhibit 5: Top Three Vendors: Optical Control Plane Technology (G-MPLS, ASON)
Alcatel-Lucent
Ciena
Huawei
Infinera
Cisco
Tellabs
Infinera
Nokia Siemens
Networks
ZTE
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent of Respondents
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
IMPORTANT PRODUCT FEATURES THAT SET VENDORS APART
After asking service providers to identify the leading vendors in several areas, we wanted to understand what features are most important
when they evaluate vendors—the features that typically set them apart. Last year we switched to an open-ended response methodology
we felt yielded more interesting and useful data, and we used that approach again. We then tallied the responses in logical groups as
listed in the next chart.
As last year, many responses cluster around generalized words such as “features,” “performance,” and “flexibility.” We classified these
responses as “performance, flexibility, general features.”
100G features jumped from 17% last year to 25% this year, still pretty low considering the 100G design activity underway. It is surprising
how often people simply used the word “scalability”—3 of 10 respondents cited this.
Control plane features were named by only 30% of respondents, down from 61% last year. This is a dramatic shift that we cannot account for—
it simply isn’t at the forefront of people’s thoughts this year. L2 features, OTN/ODU switching, and price/cost all dropped from last year as well.
Service and support ranked surprisingly low last year and dropped farther this year. Exactly like last year, only one respondent cited
“vendor stability,” in marked contrast to equipment vendors’ comments. We predominantly interviewed network architects, who don’t
have much responsibility for supporting products five years down the road—perhaps that accounts for its low showing.
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8. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
Exhibit 6: Evaluating New Vendors—Important Features
Performance, flexibility,
general features
Price/cost and density
Control plane and
network management
Scalability
100G features
OTN/ODU switching
features
ROADM features
L2 features
Service and support
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Percent of Respondents
Source: Infonetics Research, Optical Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, September 2012
EQUIPMENT VENDOR LEADERSHIP BY CATEGORY
In addition to asking respondents to rank the eight vendor selection criteria in terms of importance, we asked them to name individual
leaders for each criterion. This was a prompted question—respondents could choose up to three vendors for each criterion, from a
provided list of 12 vendors. The three responses were given in no particular order or ranking. The next table shows the three vendors
named the most for each criterion.
Exhibit 7: Optical Transmission and Switching Equipment Supplier Leadership
Criteria Number 1 Number 2 Number 3
Technology Alcatel-Lucent Ciena Infinera
Pricing Huawei ZTE Alcatel-Lucent
Service and support Alcatel-Lucent Ciena Huawei
Product reliability Alcatel-Lucent and Ciena (tie) Huawei
Financial stability Ciena Huawei Cisco
Management tools Alcatel-Lucent Ciena Infinera
R&D investment Ciena Huawei Alcatel-Lucent
Total cost of ownership Huawei Alcatel-Lucent and Ciena (tie)
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9. Leadership ranking key takeaways:
• Overall results are similar to last year’s, with the exception of Alcatel-Lucent taking leadership from Ciena in technology, and
improving in pricing.
• Alcatel-Lucent was named as a leader in management tools by four-fifths of respondents and posted a significant gap over all
vendors, including a strong second-place showing by Ciena.
• Annual pricing favorites Huawei and ZTE are in the top two again, though Alcatel-Lucent moved up from last year, and last year’s
number-three vendor ADVA dropped.
• Infinera posted good results for technology innovation, landing slightly below Alcatel-Lucent and Ciena, closer to them than last
year. Infinera is low in financial stability, though the company has a decent balance sheet.
• Cisco posted decent results in technical areas as well as total cost of ownership, and did well (third place) in financial stability.
BOTTOM LINE
Not only are Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, and Huawei the top three companies in terms of international optical hardware market share,
service providers view them as leaders in the industry. But this year’s results are materially different from last year’s, as Alcatel-
Lucent consistently improved its position relative to competitors, particularly in OTN switching and 40/100G coherent technology, while
improving its customer perception on pricing.
Ciena was in the position of undisputed optical technology leader for the prior two years, so this is a material change. It should also be
noted that during 2012, Alcatel-Lucent should out-ship Ciena 2:1 in coherent 100G ports, so product volume supports the change in
100G conclusions. Huawei consistently ranks in the top three except in technology and network management, though it does rank third
in nascent optical control plane technology.
Infinera continues a trend of ranking relatively high given its smaller size, and Cisco improved its relative standing, particularly in 100G.
METHODOLOGY AND DEMOGRAPHICS
In July and August of 2012, using online, telephone, and in-person survey methods, we interviewed 20 service providers that represent a
statistically significant 28% of 2011 worldwide revenue and capex in our Service Provider Capex, Revenue, and Capex by Equipment Type
report. Our sample includes a mix of incumbent (70%), competitive (20%), and independent wireless (10%) telcos, with 50% based in
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); 25% in North America; 15% in Asia Pacific; and 10% in Central and Latin America (CALA).
Each service provider interviewed has an optical transport network, and each respondent has detailed knowledge of their companies’
10G/40G/100G optical transmission and switching equipment, and has influence in planning and making purchase decisions for optical
transmission and switching equipment.
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10. I N F O N E T I C S R E S E A R C H S U R V E Y E X C E R P T S
SURVEY AUTHOR AND LEAD ANALYST
Andrew Schmitt
Principal Analyst, Optical
Infonetics Research
andrew@infonetics.com | +1 (408) 583.3393 | twitter.com/aschmitt
ABOUT INFONETICS RESEARCH
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