Broadband operator spending to pick back up in 2024... or later

Broadband vendors continue to speculate on when network operators will resume spending on equipment. According to the latest data points, that might happen in 2024 but could take until 2025. For example, Calix's newest 2024 financial outlook "was significantly weaker than expected," wrote the financial analysts at Rosenblatt Securities. Indeed, the vendor cut its outlook again this week, after initially doing so late last year. But Calix officials promised that demand for the company's broadband equipment will pick back up – eventually. "We have seen a significant broadening in the number of customers interested in competing for BEAD [Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program] funds. Today, nearly all our customers are either assembling a BEAD strategy or actively pursuing funds," Calix CEO Michael Weening said during the company's quarterly conference call. Allocation of BEAD funds is taking longer than expected, forcing network operators to stall their deployment plans until they have a better sense of how much funding they might get.