Major incumbents focus on virtualizing operations to improve profitability

BOSTON, MA, MARCH 28, 2017 – AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, and Windstream have gained a position on the 2016 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD, according to Vertical Systems Group’s latest research. The Incumbent Carrier LEADERBOARD, which ranks incumbents in order based on U.S. retail Ethernet port share for this segment, is an industry benchmark for measuring Ethernet market presence. Research sources for share calculations include Vertical Systems Group’s base of enterprise installations, plus direct input from our biannual surveys of network providers selling data network services in the U.S. market.

“Retail Ethernet services sold by Incumbent Carriers grew 7% in the second half of 2016, trending lower than in the first half,” said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “During the past year, major incumbents continued to virtualize operations functions and improve service delivery cycles to improve profitability.”

To qualify for the 2016 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD, companies must achieve either a top rank or a Challenge Tier citation on the 2016 U.S. Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD. Incumbent Carrier is one of three U.S. provider segments, along with the Competitive Provider and Cable MSO segments.

Other companies in the Incumbent Carrier segment selling retail Ethernet services in the U.S. market include the following (in alphabetical order): Cincinnati Bell, FairPoint, Frontier, Hawaiian Telecom, TDS Telecom and other incumbents.

Detailed 2016 Ethernet share results for the Incumbent Carrier segment  – plus in-depth share analysis for the total U.S. market, Competitive Provider and Cable MSO segments are available now exclusively through Vertical Systems Group’s ENS (Emerging Networks Service) Research Programs. Expanded research coverage of year-end 2016 market share results includes Port Share Analysis, U.S. Market Update & Trends, Service Provider Profiles, Port Share by Service Provider Segment, Trends by Service Provider Segment, and MEF Certification status of top providers.