PON sales drive record year for broadband gear revenues in 2021: Dell’Oro
A 32% year-over-year increase in PON equipment sales helped the worldwide broadband access equipment market set a revenue record in 2021, according to a newly published report by Dell’Oro Group. The market research firm states in its 4Q 2021 Broadband Access and Home Networking Quarterly Report that global broadband gear sales grew to $16.3 billion in 2021, a 12% increase over 2020 figures. Fixed wireless CPE also proved a hotspot, Dell’Oro says in the report.
Total PON ONT unit shipments set a record of 140 million units in 2021, as such devices avoided at least some of the supply chain constraints seen in the cable CPE market. Nevertheless, technology vendors who serve cable MSOs weren’t entirely gloomy; cable access concentrator revenue increased 4% to just over $1 billion in 2021, Dell’Oro states. Growth in Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) deployments helped offset declines in traditional CCAP licenses.
“2021 was a record year for PON equipment spending, with some of the highest growth coming from the North American market, where expansion projects and fiber overbuilds are picking up considerably,” said Jeff Heynen, vice president, broadband access and home networking at Dell’Oro Group. “These fiber expansion projects show no signs of slowing heading into 2022.”
Dell’Oro’s Broadband Access and Home Networking Quarterly Report provides an overview of the broadband access market with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments for cable, DSL, and PON equipment. Covered equipment includes Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP) and DAA; Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs) by such technologies as ADSL/ADSL2+, G.SHDSL, VDSL, VDSL Profile 35b, and G.fast; PON optical line terminals (OLTs); cable, DSL, and PON CPE; and SOHO WLAN equipment, including mesh routers.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.