KMI predicts next-generation SONET and SDH equipment will experience healthy growth from $1 billion in 2001 to nearly $18 billion in annual sales for 2006. Next-generation equipment will largely replace traditional SONET and SDH equipment, says KMI in its new report, "Optical Networking: SONET/SDH/Next Generation Equipment." By 2006, about 90% of SONET equipment sales will be next-generation equipment. Several trends have increased the adoption of next-generation equipment over traditional SONET/SDH systems over the past three years, according to KMI. These include the need for better aggregation equipment at the edge of the network, the migration of optical solutions to access networks, cost-competitiveness of next-generation equipment, the move to adopt more efficient technologies, and the use of existing deployments.

The report can be ordered at http://www.kmiresearch.com.