A handful of emerging technologies and services will account for a growing share of telecom spending by carriers and technology suppliers over the next six to 12 months, as the industry accelerates efforts to build and deploy next-generation networks, according to a report released by the subscription research service Light Reading Insider.

Special Report: Telecom's Technology Hot Spots identifies the critical sectors that will attract more telecom spending from network operators and their suppliers in coming months, with deep insight and expert commentary from the top analysts at Heavy Reading, the paid research division of Light Reading Inc.

In this all-new report, Heavy Reading analysts pinpoint the companies expected to take a leading role in telecom market activity in these industry sectors:

• Carrier-class Ethernet
• IPTV and next-gen video
• IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and fixed/mobile convergence (FMC)
• Multiservice edge technologies

"On the technology supplier side, vendors now perceive their best interests as being served by embracing a higher degree of industry uniformity, rather than making every technology option a battleground of proprietary solutions," the report notes. "For major service providers, fears of service cannibalization are fading fast as the more dire threat of revenue loss to new competitors looms ever larger."

Key findings of the report include:

• Carrier-class Ethernet is transforming the enterprise data services landscape by displacing Frame Relay, ATM, and TDM private line solutions.
  
• Policy control is shaping up to be an interesting area to watch, not only for IPTV, but also for residential broadband and commercial services.
  
• IMS is clearly infiltrating every critical aspect of the telecommunications business.
  
• The multiservice switch market will continue to thrive, but success will depend on vendors' ability to adapt to new market demands.

The report covers strategic market positioning for dozens of vendors and network operators, including incumbent vendors such as Alcatel and Cisco Systems, and major carriers such as BellSouth, and Verizon Communications.

Special Report: Telecom's Technology Hot Spots, a 26-page report, is available as part of an annual subscription (12 monthly issues) to Light Reading Insider, priced at $1,350. Individual reports are available for $900.

For additional information, to request a free executive summary of the report, or for details of multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Claudino
Sales Manager, Insider Research Services
619-229-9940
claudino@lightreading.com

Press/analyst contact:

Dennis Mendyk
Managing Director, Heavy Reading
201-587-2154
mendyk@heavyreading.com