Report: Strong demand for PON, Ethernet FTTH equipment driven by video, high bandwidth apps

April 5, 2006 Campbell, CA -- Worldwide OLT and ONT PON equipment revenue hit $619 million in 2005 and is forecasted to grow to $2 billion in 2009, with PON port shipments projected to grow even faster, hitting 10.7 million in 2009, according to the latest report from Infonetics Research.

Also according to the report, the burgeoning Ethernet Access Device (EAD) segment more than quadrupled between 2004 and 2005, and is forecasted to jump from $91 million in 2005 to almost $682 million in 2009. Similarly, after more than doubling between 2004 and 2005, the number of worldwide PON subscribers is expected to continue surging, from 3.4 million in 2005 to 31 million in 2009.

"Video, IPTV, and other high bandwidth applications are driving demand for PON and Ethernet FTTH equipment all over the world," maintains Jeff Heynen, analyst at Infonetics Research. "PON is very strong in the Asia Pacific region, particularly EPON, which is huge in Japan and will roll out in China soon as well. In North America, Verizon's BPON-based FTTH network, FiOS, is in full swing: at the end of 2005, Verizon had already passed over 3 million homes through FiOS. In EMEA, Ethernet FTTH is strongest, especially in Scandinavia where municipalities and utilities are working together to deploy Ethernet FTTH networks."

Other highlights of 2005, according to the report, include:

* Mitsubishi took the lead from Hitachi in worldwide PON market share revenue and ports

* Tellabs led PON revenue in North America, Mitsubishi in Asia Pacific, Motorola in EMEA, and Alcatel in CALA. FTTH subscribers (PON + Ethernet FTTH subscribers) reached 3 million worldwide in 2005, and are seen growing to 31.6 million in 2009, 89% of which will be PON-based.

* Roughly two-thirds of worldwide PON revenue came from FTTH deployments, and a third from FTTB deployments; Infonetics says this split will continue to increase, with FTTH deployments taking "the lion's share" of worldwide revenue by 2009.

* 57% of worldwide PON revenue comes from Asia Pacific now, but by 2009, the firm says that North America, EMEA, and CALA will gain share, while Asia Pacific's share drops to 35%.

The "PON, FTTH, and EAD Equipment," report tracks BPON, EPON, and GPON OLT and ONT equipment used in FTTH and FTTB applications, Ethernet switches used in FTTH applications, EADs, and PON subscribers. The report provides analysis and rankings for PON, EAD, and Ethernet FTTH vendors, including ADVA, AFL, Alcatel, Allied Telesyn, Alloptic, Atrica, Calix, Ceterus, Cisco, ECI, Entrisphere, FlexLight, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Huawei, iamba, Lucent/Riverstone, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NEC, Overture, PacketFront, Siemens, Sumitomo, Tellabs, Terawave, UTStarcom, World Wide Packets, Zhone, and others.