Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), according to Infonetics Research, gained top spots in the broadband aggregation market segment amidst a worldwide 7 percent decline of $1.5 billion.
Although worldwide GPON and EPON equipment revenue fell 5 and 4 percent, respectively, Huawei maintained its 33 percent share of the market. Alcatel-Lucent kept its second place spot, while ZTE, which has had a few challenging quarters as it tries to win a seat on China Telecom's emerging FTTx network initiative, dropped to third place.
In addition to gaining share in the FTTH segment, Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent are finding growing acceptance for their hybrid copper/fiber VDSL2 and vectoring platforms. Huawei reported that its AutoSense Vectoring software passed the acceptance tests and upgraded to the live networks of more than 15 global mainstream operators. Meanwhile sales of its VDSL2 and vectored equipment drove up Alcatel-Lucent's fixed network unit revenues 8.6 percent.
While Q1 is typically a challenging period for broadband aggregation sales, there were stark differences between EMEA, China and North America.
Jeff Heynen, principal analyst, broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics, said that out of the three, EMEA was "hit hardest" as spending on DSL, PON and overall FTTH equipment declined 27 percent sequentially.
While China's spending on EPON equipment fell, GPON spending rose for the eighth consecutive quarter to provide access to 20 million subscribers.
Heynen said that North America's spending on broadband aggregation equipment rose as service providers "increased spending to fight the aggressive DOCSIS 3.0 initiatives by cable operators."
For more:
- see the release
Related articles:
Alcatel-Lucent takes lead in VDSL segment, says Dell'Oro
VDSL2 with bonding or vectoring - Top wireline technologies in 2013
Alcatel-Lucent Q1 rises to $4.2 billion on strong North America, VDSL2 sales
Deutsche Telekom lays out $39B FTTC, wireless broadband plan