Dell’Oro pegs broadband equipment spending peak at 2024

Feb. 3, 2022

Suppliers of PON gear will still be happy with the next five years overall, the market research firm’s analysis indicates.

Stephen Hardy

Dell’Oro Group has released a new version of its Broadband Access 5-Year Forecast Report in which it predicts that spending on broadband equipment worldwide will peak at $18 billion in 2024 before starting to decline by 2% in both 2025 and 2026. Suppliers of PON gear will still be happy with the next five years overall, the market research firm’s analysis indicates.

“Between national broadband plans, public subsidization, and private equity, spending on broadband infrastructure will see sustained growth through 2024, and will remain strong through 2026,” explained Jeff Heynen, vice president at Dell’Oro Group. “Competition for broadband subscribers is heating up everywhere, fueling the need for operators to invest heavily in their access networks.”

Dell’Oro sees PON equipment, cable broadband access equipment, and fixed wireless CPE as popular purchases from 2021 to 2026. Driven by XGS-PON deployments in North America, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), and Caribbean and Latin America, PON gear should see spending surge from $8.3 billion in 2021 to $9.8 billion in 2026, Dell’Oro forecasts. Cable distributed access equipment (including virtual CCAP, Remote PHY devices, and Remote MACPHY devices) spending should increase from $275 million in 2021 to nearly $900 million by 2024 as cable MSOs deploy DOCSIS 4.0 technology.

Fixed wireless access is expected to remain a strong option for service providers during the forecast period, according to Dell’Oro. Spending on such CPE should reach $2.8 billion by 2026, according to the report, with 5G sub-6GHz and 5G millimeter-wave units in the lead.

Dell’Oro’s Broadband Access 5-Year Forecast Report provides an overview of the broadband access market with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments for cable, DSL, PON, and fixed wireless equipment. Covered equipment includes Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP), Distributed Access Architectures (DAA), DSL Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), PON optical line terminals (OLTs), customer premises equipment (for cable, DSL, PON, and fixed wireless applications), along with residential WLAN equipment, including mesh routers.

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About the Author

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.