10-Gigabit Ethernet standard set to foster competition

An approved final draft of the 10-Gigabit Ethernet standard will mean more choices as vendors develop standard-compliant products. However, high prices will likely slow development of this market.

Event
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 Ethernet Standard group recently approved the final draft of the 10-Gigabit Ethernet standard. The 802.3ae standard will enable vendors to start shipping 10-Gigabit Ethernet products that are compatible with other vendors' products.

First Take
This new standard mainly differs from previous Ethernet standards, such as Fast Ethernet (802.3u) and Gigabit Ethernet (802.3z) in that the previous standards remained within local area network (LAN) boundaries. The 10-Gigabit Ethernet standard will enable Ethernet to become the baseline technology that unifies LANs, metropolitan area networks and wide area networks.

10-Gigabit Ethernet products started shipping in 2001 following the approval of an initial standard draft that contained the technical elements. Several major global vendors offer 10-Gigabit Ethernet products. Many vendors took the opportunity of May's NetWorld+Interop 2002 show in Las Vegas to present their latest products. With the standard ratified, expect vendors to roll out more products and expect competition to become fiercer.

However, the price for a 10-Gigabit Ethernet link is expensive - more than $40,000. This cost is too much for most enterprises, and most service providers don't have enough spare funds to invest at the moment. Therefore, the 10-Gigabit Ethernet market will develop more slowly than vendors expected when they began working on the standard in 1999.