According to the survey, over 60% of respondents believe that by 2014, most of their networks will be based on optical infrastructure. Furthermore, 43% predict that, during the same period, more than half of network traffic will be used for video streaming.

The Latin American telecommunications sector has focused on making its networks more "green." More than 90% of those interviewed believe it is important to implement networks that consume less energy.

Towards the Optical System:
Tellabs and the IDC Research Institute conducted a survey of 482 telecommunications professionals at Futurecom '09 in São Paulo, Brazil. Respondents answered questions about current and planned optical network deployments, network transport methods, video traffic levels, and the benefits of implementing optical networks.

The survey showed that respondents think operators will migrate to optical networks in the next five years in order to increase speed and capacity (84%), promote cost reduction (47%), simplify network management (33%) and save energy (33%).

More than 40% of those interviewed said that less than 15% of the current infrastructure consists of optical networks. However, 39% of professionals anticipate that, within the same period, 75% of network infrastructure will be optical, and more than 60% believe that half of their networks will be optical.

"The results of this survey show that professionals in the Brazilian telecommunications sector understand the extraordinary impact that increased traffic will have on their networks in the near future," stated Tarcisio Ribeiro, Vice President of Sales for Tellabs in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Optical networks are the right choice to increase network capacity, decrease costs, and reduce energy consumption."

Regarding technology, 39% of respondents said they use SHD/SONET and 36% use Carrier Ethernet. According to the survey, in five years, 39% will use Carrier Ethernet technology and 24% will use DWDM, with only 14% maintaining their SHD/SONET systems.

"The professionals interviewed clearly understand that Brazilian operators have operational problems that need to be resolved quickly," said Vinicius Caetano, a telecom analyst at IDC. "The operators must invest in very cost-effective and scalable solutions so that they can be prepared for the inevitable increase in demand."