The amount of money cable operators spend on broadband access equipment will decrease by 2% from 2019 to 2024, research company Dell’Oro Group predicts in its latest report.
Part of the cause, the firm said, is virtualization—operators will spend less on access hardware tech, as software virtualizes components like cable modem termination system (CMTS). In fact, Dell’Oro predicted revenue from virtual CMTS revenue will grow from $90 million last year to $418 million in 2024, but operators will spend less overall on equipment.
Meanwhile, Dell’Oro said that maturing broadband markets in the U.S. and Europe are also a factor, as is the pause operators are taking following wide-scale deployments of DOCSIS 3.1.
“Global operators continue to invest in their broadband access networks, but are increasingly delivering more capacity with lower-cost, virtualized hardware,” said Jeff Heynen, senior research director at Dell’Oro Group, in a statement. “Virtualization, coupled with subscriber saturation in some mature markets will result in gradually declining revenue for broadband access equipment globally.”
