Coherent 400G technology will start to ramp this year and account for almost one quarter of all deployed optical transport capacity in 2020. That’s the conclusion of a new report from networking component and equipment market research firm, Cignal AI.

The ‘Optical Applications Report’ report also represents the industry’s first comprehensive analysis measuring the anticipated growth of coherent 400G WDM, according to Andrew Schmitt, lead analyst for Cignal AI.

Despite concerns from component makers, China’s optical hardware market continues to grow, according to Cignal AI, a networking component and equipment market research firm. In fact, optical revenue in China is up 13 per cent for the first half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, the firm states in its second quarter Optical Hardware Report.

The worldwide consumption of planar lightwave circuit (PLC) splitters reached $789 million in 2016, up 13.4 per cent from 2015, according to the latest report from market and technology consultancy ElectroniCast Consultants.

The UK Government has described how it plans to spend the £400 million investment aimed at bringing bring ‘full fibre’ connections – installing fibre-optic cables to individual properties – to two million more homes across the country.

More than half of the metro WDM bandwidth deployed in 2017 will be coherent 200G or above, with the highest volume coming from compact data centre interconnect (DCI) equipment used by cloud and colocation providers, according to the most recent Optical Applications Report from Cignal AI, a networking component and equipment market research firm.

Optical components companies have finally emerged from the shadow of the dot-com crash, with the majority returning to profitability in 2016, according to market research firm LightCounting in its ‘State of the Optical Communications Industry’ report.

In fact, the sales-weighted average profitability of publicly-traded optical component and module suppliers reached nine per cent in 2016, exceeded the average net profits of their main customers – communication service providers (CSPs) and suppliers of networking equipment (see figure).

The popularity of gigabit services has soared over the past year, and there are now at least 603 operations around the world offering gigabit internet services, a jump of 72 percent since June 2016, according to test and measurement vendor Viavi Solutions.

The global consumption of fibre optic sensors will increase to reach $5.98 billion in 2026, up from $3.38 billion in 2016, according to the latest market forecast and analysis from ElectroniCast Consultants.

The study considers both distributed continuous sensors and point (local) fibre-optics sensors. The market share in terms of value is segmented according to region and application category, which include manufacturing, civil engineering, military and aerospace, petrochemical and energy, and biomedical/scientific applications.

The optics market will enjoy robust growth in 2017 even though many network operators are cutting capital expenditure, according to market research firm LightCounting, which has just issued an update to its Optical Communication Market Forecast.

Ofcom has set out detailed plans for improving access to BT’s infrastructure, which include allowing fibre used for business broadband connections, known as leased lines, to share the incumbent’s underground ducts and telegraph poles.

The measures are designed to spur competition and investment in broadband networks, and reduce the UK’s historical reliance on Openreach, the access network business within BT Group.