Force 10 Networks, the heavyweight in the 10 gigabit networks space, got some serious cash infusion today – about $40 million – which brings the total to about $300 million in five rounds of funding, with hopes to go public next year. Much of the money is going to be used to compete with Big Daddy of switches, Cisco Systems. It has a lot of traction with some heavy hitters – like CERN.

Till recently, most metro networks, you know the kinds that run in circles around big cities or underneath Manhattan, operate at 2.5 Gb/s. But the demands on these networks are only going to increase as all sorts of stuff – video, voice and data – starts cramming the pipes. Many believe that metro networks will head to 10 GB speeds soon enough. However, one thing which remains to be seen: how quickly do the prices of 10 GB gear comedown, to ignite the market.