Dell’Oro Group reports 15% growth in optical transport market in 3Q25

The Dell’Oro Group’s 3Q25 Optical Transport report finds a 15% year-over-year increase in the optical transport systems market, reflecting broader demand across customer groups and technology sectors. This trend indicates dynamic purchasing patterns relevant to enterprise and technical leaders managing network infrastructure investment.

Market overview

The report documents that optical transport systems revenue expanded by 15% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2025. Growth occurred in all principal customer segments and technology categories, with cloud providers showing the largest increase at 58% year-over-year and the Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) (DWDM) long haul segment rising 24% year-over-year.

Key findings

Data Center Interconnect (DCI) applications led the market with a 34% year-over-year growth in optical equipment sales. Non-DCI segments also increased by 7% year-over-year, supported by higher spending from communication service providers (CSPs).

Supplier performance

During the first nine months of 2025, vendors Ciena and Nokia each gained more than one percentage point of market share. Additional vendors that secured some market share include 1Finity, Adtran, Cisco, and Smartoptics.

Forecast and outlook

The ongoing increases in cloud demand and DCI activity are expected to continue influencing the market landscape. Vendor market share adjustments indicate shifting competitive dynamics among optical transport equipment suppliers.

This Analyst Signals brief reflects a neutral, fact-based summary of the original research note.