Total global revenue for the broadband access equipment market was $4.4 billion in the first quarter, up 14% and fueled by fiber and fixed wireless access projects, according to a study by the Dell’Oro Group.
“Despite all the challenges with supply chains, logistics, and labor, service providers continue to invest heavily to expand their fiber broadband networks, particularly in North America,” Dell’Oro Group Vice President, Broadband Access and Home Networking Jeff Heynen said in a press release. “Many of these deployments are to deliver multi-gig services, as operators look to stay one step ahead of their competitors.”
Also: Equipment, Worker Shortage Could Delay Fiber Buildout
In its 1Q 2022 Broadband Access and Home Networking quarterly report, Dell’Oro found that total cable access concentrator revenue increased 5% year-over-year to about $257 million as solid growth in Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) deployments help offset declines in traditional CCAP licenses. Total fixed wireless CPE unit shipments reached 3.8 million units in the quarter, with 5G Sub-6GHz units showing the fastest growth.
Also: It’s Time to Take Frontier Communications’ Fiber Plans Seriously
Telco and cable operators across the country have stepped up fiber and fixed wireless deployments, especially as federal funding has emerged to help finance buildouts in rural areas. In addition, Altice USA said earlier this year it would accelerate its fiber-to-the-home build, expanding the technology to 6.5 million homes by 2025. AT&T has plans to pass 30 million additional homes with fiber by 2025 and Frontier Communications said it would extend its fiber network to 10 million homes by 2025, while other smaller operators like TDS Telecommunications -- which plans to nearly double its total service addresses from 1.4 million to 2.2 million over the next five years, mainly through fiber expansion -- Shentel and MetroNet have all expressed plans to step up buildouts to bring faster speeds and greater capacity to broadband customers. ■
