Optical networking growth could support IP telephony solutions

IP telephony solutions and other all-IP technologies could be supported in the years to come by the current trend towards optics-based networking.

Figures from Datamonitor research brand Ovum show seven per cent growth in the global optical networking market between the first quarters of 2010 and 2011.

The Americas in particular have helped to drive the industry higher this year than last, while some other regions have seen more subdued performance.

Dana Cooperson, network infrastructure practice leader at Ovum, says the growth is encouraging, but that an increase in annualised spending is even more important.

This is "driven by strong growth in dense wavelength-division multiplexing market and a shift to optical products more fully optimised for continued strong growth in IP-based traffic".

Wavelength-division multiplexing is a means for IP telephony solutions to transmit multiple data streams in a single fibre optic.

The technology uses slightly different colours, or wavelengths, of light to carry individual channels of data, effectively increasing the potential bandwidth of the fibre through which they are transmitted.