SANTA CLARA, Calif. & BOSTON, March 6 -- Network Strategy Partners, management consultants to the networking industry, and Atrica Inc., provider of optical Ethernet equipment for the metro networking market, said a joint study they conducted demonstrates significant cost benefits of optical Ethernet for metro network service providers. The companies said they found that carriers deploying an optical Ethernet metro network infrastructure can realize dramatically improved cashflow and profitability, with payback in as little as two quarters, as compared to the 2 1/2 years it would take to realize payback with an Ethernet/DWDM alternative and 3 1/2 years with next-generation SONET equipment. The study also found that carriers can achieve a sustainable return on investment of 400 percent, and that the total cost of ownership for an optical Ethernet solution is 42 percent less than an Ethernet/DWDM alternative and 51 percent less than a next-generation SONET solution. Conducted by Network Strategy Partners and sponsored by Atrica, the study presents a business case for the deployment of a suite of optical Ethernet-based services including Internet access, transparent LAN services, TDM services, metro Ethernet private line services and custom dedicated private network services in a large metro area.