The number of Token Ring-based local area networks in the UK has overtaken Ethernet installations, according to a new report by Apt Data Services Ltd Benchmark Research Ltd. The study found that 36% of local area networks are Token Ring, compared to 33% Ethernet, but adds that the transition is nothing like the sweeping aside of Ethernet that some US reports have predicted. Token Ring applications featured the fastest rate of increase of any protocol, although Ethernet ones still show a steady increase. Other protocols, such as CSMA/CA and broadband, are said to be healthy, without witnessing the rapid growth of the two dominant systems. The report also found slow uptake of local area networks in manufacturing applications; of those questionned, only 7% used Token Ring local nets in manufacturing, compared to 55% who used all types of local area networks for Office Automation and for financial applications. The report, Local Area Networks in the UK, is published by APT Data Services Ltd, publisher of Computergram International and also of the Telegram weekly, and costs UKP345.
