BOSTON, MA, MARCH 21, 2014 – The top four Incumbents selling Carrier Ethernet services in the U.S. are as follows (in rank order based on port share): AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, and Windstream, according to Vertical Systems Group’s latest research. These companies have achieved positions on Vertical’s 2013 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD, the benchmark for measuring Ethernet market presence based on billable retail ports delivered by Incumbent Carriers.

“Incumbent Carrier is the most sizeable of the three U.S. Ethernet provider segments, but the slowest growing. Market leaders AT&T and Verizon have successfully nurtured their large enterprise and global customers with Ethernet-enabled solutions, while encountering more aggressive competition in the mid and small business markets across the U.S.,” said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “Both CenturyLink and Windstream, with improved Ethernet service delivery and sales execution, grew faster in 2013 than the two market leaders.”

Each company on the 2013 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD has achieved either a Leaderboard rank or a Challenge Tier citation on the 2013 U.S. Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD.

Detailed Ethernet share results for the U.S. market and by provider segment (Incumbent Carrier, Competitive Provider, Cable MSO) plus in-depth share analysis are available now exclusively through Vertical Systems Group’s ENS (Emerging Networks Service) Research Programs.