Fiber Surge Drives Record-Breaking Year for Broadband Access Equipment Market, According to Dell’Oro Group

Total global revenue for the broadband access equipment market went up to $16.3 billion in 2021, according to Dell’Oro Group's Q4 2021 Broadband Access and Home Networking quarterly report. Fiber demand fueled market growth, along with passive optical networking (PON) infrastructure and fixed wireless customer premises equipment (CPE). Cable access concentrator revenue increased by 4 percent in 2021, totaling over $1 billion. Total PON optical network terminal (ONT) shipments reached a record 140 million units. PON infrastructure and fixed wireless CPE made up 32 percent of global revenue, according to Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen. Fixed wireless CPE revenue went up by 42 percent since 2020. Heynen said the Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GPON) “makes up the largest portion of the market by far.” But the XGS-PON, which can coexist on the same fiber as GPON, is also gaining traction in North America. Fiber distributors are also concerned about supply chains. There is so much demand for new fiber projects and optic conduits that fiber lead times are increasing, Heynen said. Heynen predicts 2022 will see a slowdown in the number of PON-CPE and ONT units. Partially due to ongoing supply chain constraints but also because providers are focused on building out infrastructure first, before adding subscribers to their networks.