GPON and VDSL Gear Drive Fixed Broadband Spending Growth

CAMPBELL, CA - 2013 was a strong year for fixed broadband spending, driven by the continued growth of GPON and vectoring-capable VDSL gear, according to market research firm Infonetics Research in its vendor market share and preliminary analysis from its 4th quarter 2013 and year-end PON, FTTH, and DSL Aggregation Equipment and Subscribers report.

"Competition, over-the-top (OTT) and multiscreen video, and national broadband goals remain the primary drivers for fixed broadband investment," notes Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research.

Broadband Aggregation Market Highlights

• Globally, sales of broadband aggregation equipment (DSL, PON, and Ethernet FTTH) grew 4.6 percent sequentially in 4Q13, to $1.95 billion


• For the full year 2013, worldwide broadband aggregation equipment revenue totaled $6.96 billion, a 1.6 percent increase over 2012


• 2013 capped a record year for GPON in China, with revenue increasing 64 percent from the previous year as China Unicom and China Telecom continued deployments of GPON-based FTTH


• VDSL shipments surpassed ADSL for the first time in 2013 and now make up over half of all DSL ports shipped, though this was not enough to lift overall DSL aggregation market on a year-over-year basis


• The top three overall broadband aggregation revenue leaders are once again Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, and ZTE