Business Ethernet services emerged "as the most significant strategic product in service providers' data portfolios," in 2009, according to Vertical Systems Group principal Rick Malone. Though the connectivity service "is not a mass market offering in the U.S. yet ... with upward demand from enterprise customers for higher access speeds, service providers are being challenged to increase network capacity and decrease installation cycle times," Malone said.
Malone made those statements when Vertical Systems Group announced its 2009 U.S. Business Ethernet Leaderboard, which includes nine companies, each of which holds at least four percent of the U.S. market based on retail port installations as of year-end 2009. "AT&T heads our Leaderboard for the second year in a row by increasing its Business Ethernet base more rapidly than the overall market," Malone concluded. In order, the nine Leaderboard companies are:
- AT&T
- Verizon
- tw Telecom
- Cox
- Qwest
- XO
- Time Warner Cable
- Cogent
- Level 3
According to Vertical Systems Group, more than 70 companies delivered Business Ethernet services in the United States last year, including incumbent carriers, competitive providers, and cable multiple system operators (MSOs). During the second half of 2009, competitive providers and cable MSOs gained share from incumbent carriers, the company said.