Huawei
and ZTE benefited the most from the Chinese operators’ spending spree on EPON
and GPON equipment in the first quarter of 2011, despite being equally hammered
by the decline in spending on DSL equipment.

 

The
major story in the broadband aggregation equipment market this quarter is the
dramatic drop in DSL ports in China,
which points to operators there continuing their dramatic shift away from DSL,
according to a report by Infonetics Research.

 

The
first quarter is typically one of the slowest for DSL, but the seasonal effect
was worsened by Chinese operators’ continued shift away from traditional DSLAM
deployments.

 

Also,
voice ports (DS0s) on FTTB/MXU MSAPs in Asia dropped significantly, signaling a
shift away from adding voice lines to simply installing DSL ports,”  said Jeff
Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access at Infonetics Research.

 

According
to the report, the DSL, PON, and Ethernet FTTH equipment market reversed its
small fourth quarter gain with a 2 percent decline in 1Q11, dipping to $1.96
billion worldwide.

 

The
overall market’s decline was led by a double-digit sequential drop in DSL
infrastructure spending in all regions.

 

Despite
the sequential declines, the DSL equipment market is up 36 percent
year-over-year (1Q11 vs. 1Q10).

 

The
worldwide PON market jumped 20 percent in 1Q11 over 4Q10, surpassing the $1.0
billion threshold for the first time ever.

 

Driven
by the Chinese operators and sustained growth in Japan
and Korea,
worldwide EPON spending was up a whopping 46 percent in 1Q11 over 4Q10.

 

The
North American GPON market should regain its momentum over the next few
quarters, as Verizon re-initiates its FiOS buildout and Broadband Stimulus
deployments continue.

 

Calix’s
Ethernet FTTH equipment revenue shot up 222 percent this quarter, as they
capitalized on Broadband Stimulus grants to help US carriers roll out Ethernet
FTTH networks.

 

By
TelecomLead.com Team
[email protected]