Broadcasting

July 13, 2006
VDSL shipments surge, providers ready for IPTV, VoD

California -- After an eight percent hike in revenue in the fourth quarter, worldwide DSL aggregation hardware slowed in the first quarter of 2006, dipping five percent to US $ 1.6 billion, according to Infonetics Research's latest DSL Aggregation Hardware report.

The dip in revenue reflects cheaper port prices, not a slowdown in the market, as evidenced by the 38 percent jump in DSL ports from 2004 to 2005. By 2009, worldwide DSL aggregation hardware DSL port shipments are expected to soar to 460 million.

"The broadband boom is in full force, and we are at the stage now where DSL aggregation hardware revenue is pretty flat because ports are getting so cheap, but we'll see a nice ramp up in revenue in 2007 that will continue to climb rapidly at least through 2009," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst at Infonetics Research.

"The first quarter of 2006 saw a huge jump in VDSL port shipments, indicating an increase in fiber to the curb and fiber to the node deployments, a sign that DSL providers are focusing on getting higher bandwidth to their subscribers to meet their growing demand for IP video and IPTV."

Market Highlights

• Worldwide DSL aggregation hardware DSL port shipments increased two percent between 4Q 2005 and 1Q 2006.
• VDSL ports on IP DSLAMs were up 34 percent in 1Q 2006, VDSL ports on broadband loop carriers were up 60 percent.
• IP DSLAM revenue is forecast to grow an astonishing 318% between 2005 and 2009
• In 1Q 2006, Alcatel maintained its number one position in worldwide DSL aggregation hardware revenue and port market share, followed by Huawei and Siemens; Ericsson jumps into the number four spot after its acquisition of Marconi.
• Alcatel and Huawei also hold the number one and number two positions in the burgeoning IP DSLAM space in 1Q 2006.