Orange retains the top position; AT&T moves up to second, displacing Colt; CenturyLink enters at fourth position; Global Cloud Xchange moves into the Challenge Tier

BOSTON, MA, MARCH 22, 2018 – Vertical Systems Group’s 2017 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD results are as follows (in rank order based on retail port share): Orange Business Services (France), AT&T (U.S.), Colt (U.K.), CenturyLink (U.S.), BT Global Services (U.K.), Verizon (U.S.) and NTT (Japan). The Global Provider LEADERBOARD, the industry’s benchmark for multinational Ethernet network market presence, ranks companies that hold a 4% or higher share of billable retail ports at sites outside of their respective home countries.

Orange retains the top position on the Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD based on year-end 2017 port share results. AT&T advances to second position, displacing Colt, which moves to third position. CenturyLink is a new entrant, attaining fourth position based on ports acquired from its Level 3 merger. At mid-year 2017, Level 3 ranked fourth on the Global Provider LEADERBOARD and CenturyLink was in the Market Player tier.

The Challenge Tier of Global Providers includes companies with share between 2% and 4% of this defined market. Seven companies qualify for the year-end 2017 Challenge Tier (in alphabetical order): Cogent (U.S.), Global Cloud Xchange (India), SingTel (Singapore), T-Systems (Germany), Tata Communications (India), Telefonica Worldwide (Spain) and Vodafone (U.K.). Global Cloud Xchange is the new entrant gaining a Challenge Tier citation, moving up from the Market Player tier.

“With very slim margins separating the leading global service providers, Orange remains in first position, AT&T advances to second, and CenturyLink makes its debut,” said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “To serve this specialized global market, key providers are increasing deployments of higher speed Ethernet connectivity to MPLS, VPLS and cloud services, while transitioning customers to more dynamic, advanced SDN-based hybrid WAN and SD-WAN offerings.”

The Market Player tier includes all Global Providers with port share below 2%. Companies in the year-end 2017 Market Player tier are as follows (in alphabetical order): Bell (Canada), Bezeq (Israel), CAT Telecom (Thailand), China Telecom (China), Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan), Eir (Ireland), Embratel (Brazil), euNetworks (U.K.), Exponential-e (U.K.), Globe (Philippines), GlobeNet (Brazil), GTT (U.S.), HGC Global (Hong Kong), Indosat (Indonesia), Interoute (U.K.), KDDI (Japan), Korea Telecom (Korea), KPN (Netherlands), Liberty Global (Netherlands), Masergy (U.S.), PCCW Global (Hong Kong), PLDT Global (Philippines), Rogers (Canada), Rostelecom (Russia), Spark (New Zealand), Sparkle (Italy), Sprint (U.S.), StarHub (Singapore), TDC (Denmark), Telekom Malaysia (Malaysia), Telia (Sweden), Telin (Singapore), Telkom South Africa (South Africa), TelMex (Mexico), Telstra (Australia), Vector (New Zealand), Virgin Media Business (U.K.), Zayo (U.S.), and other providers selling Ethernet services outside their home country.

MEF certification is recognized as a market differentiator for Ethernet providers and a foundation of the MEF 3.0 framework for advanced services. Global Ethernet Provider companies that have received MEF CE 2.0 certification as of March 2018 are as follows:

• Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD: AT&T, Colt, CenturyLink, Verizon
• Challenge Tier: SingTel, T-Systems, Tata, Telefonica, Vodafone

Detailed Ethernet share results that power the Year-End 2017 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARDs are available now exclusively through Vertical Systems Group’s ENS Research Programs. For more information Contact us.