Healthy rebounds in DSL equipment market in 2Q11

CALIFORNIA, USA: Total spending on PON, FTTH and DSL aggregation equipment jumped 12 per cent to $2.1 billion in 2Q11, with every equipment category and region showing healthy rebounds after a seasonally slow 1Q11, finds market research firm Infonetics Research.

In its second quarter (2Q11) 'PON, FTTH, and DSL Aggregation Equipment and Subscribers' vendor market share and forecast report, it also finds that year-over-year (2Q11 compared to 2Q10), the overall broadband access market is up 26 per cent.

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Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access at Infonetics Research, said: "After a challenging first quarter, the DSL equipment market rebounded nicely in the second quarter, driven by strong activity in North America, helped by a mix of Broadband Stimulus and tier 1 carrier spending on VDSL (very high bitrate DSL lines), and in the EMEA region, where operators continue to spend on VDSL and voice ports as they retire their TDM voice lines in favor of voice over IP."

The biggest increase in broadband access equipment spending in 2Q11 was in Central America and Latin America (CALA), up 40 per cent sequentially.

"Also notable this quarter is the phenomenal EPON market growth in China, where EPON spending surpassed the US$600 million mark and EPON ports surpassed the 3 million mark for the first time, thanks to China Telecom and China Unicom," notes Heynen.

GPON equipment investments jumped 56 per cent in the EMEA region in 2Q11, following a 25 per cent increase the previous quarter.

Huawei and ZTE hold on to their lead in the overall broadband access equipment market in 2Q11, with Huawei's revenue share increasing a bit, taking in about 1/3 of the global total.