GPON, VDSL bright spots in broadband aggregation market

BANGALORE, INDIA: Global sales of broadband aggregation equipment (DSL, PON, Ethernet FTTH) fell six per cent in 4Q12, to $1.56 billion, as a result of declines in spending on DSL equipment in EMEA and EPON gear in Asia, as per analyst firm Infonectics Research.

For the full year 2012, worldwide spending on broadband aggregation equipment was down 10 per cent to $6.65 billion, with DSL equipment taking the largest hit, plunging 26 per cent.

"2012 was a challenging year for fixed broadband equipment, with DSL taking the biggest hit as China continues its transition to FTTH," notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, broadband access and pay TV, Infonetics Research. "However, despite the difficult road for DSL, VDSL remains a real bright spot, expanding among operators in Western Europe, North America and Latin America. Vectoring solutions and a long-term path to G.Fast are driving sustained interest in VDSL2."

Meanwhile, the 2.5G GPON equipment segment is up 30 per cent in 2012, led by China, where a dramatic swing in technology choice by China Telecom and China Unicom is shifting investment from EPON to GPON for FTTH deployments.

Heynen adds: "Meanwhile, GPON equipment had an outstanding year, with China again contributing the most revenue and EMEA and Latin America providing pockets of strength."

VDSL port shipments grew by almost a quarter in 2012, reaching 23 million worldwide, as Belgacom, KPN, British Telecom, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Turk Telecom, and Telekom Austria deploy VDSL2 to keep pace with cable DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts.

In 2012, in the overall broadband aggregation market, perennial leader Huawei lost some revenue share to its top competitors, and Alcatel-Lucent pulled ahead of ZTE for second place.

The top three overall vendors also lead the growing 2.5G GPON equipment market, with Dasan Networks rounding out the #4 spot.