Infonetics Research: Operators Conflicted Over Fixed Broadband Investments, Give Nod to Alcatel-Lucent

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its Next Gen PON, FTTH and VDSL Deployment Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, which explores operators’ plans for next-generation fixed access technologies as well as the business and application drivers for investment in fixed broadband networks.

“It’s become a challenge for operators to know how much to invest in fixed broadband networks and services”

ANALYST NOTE

“It’s become a challenge for operators to know how much to invest in fixed broadband networks and services,” notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “On one hand, fixed broadband is among the most profitable services a provider can offer. On the other hand, the investment required to roll out or upgrade mobile networks is eating into their available capital.”

Heynen adds: “What our latest broadband access survey reveals is that the transition to next-generation fixed access technologies (10G EPON, XGPON1, variants of WDM-PON) will take longer than many in the industry had hoped. The fundamental drivers are there, but they aren’t pressing enough to force a wholesale shift in deployment timelines, and they don’t outweigh the higher costs of next-gen equipment. While most of the operators we interviewed plan to wait until next-generation pricing achieves parity with current generation technologies before investing heavily, their current thinking about vendors and what will drive them to eventually invest should prove interesting to any player in this space.”

NEXT GEN PON, FTTH, AND VDSL SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

About 40% of the operators Infonetics surveyed said they plan to offer 100+ Mbps connections by 2015, but there isn’t a corresponding interest now in investing in the next-gen technologies that enable those speeds
78% of survey respondents have already deployed 2.5G GPON, growing to 87% by 2013
Around 2/5 of service providers interviewed plan to deploy VDSL2 system-level vectoring
Alcatel-Lucent was named as the top FTTH vendor by 70% of the operator respondents
Service providers gave the highest marks to FTTH vendors Alcatel-Lucent and Calix for technology innovation, product reliability, and management software

SURVEY SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ annual Next Gen PON, FTTH and VDSL survey analyzes results from interviews with incumbent and competitive operators in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Asia Pacific, and CALA (Caribbean and Latin America) about plans, drivers, pricing, and product requirements for next-generation FTTH and PON technologies, from VDSL to XGPON2. The survey features operator ratings of 11 vendors (Alcatel-Lucent, ADTRAN, Calix, Ericsson, FiberHome, Huawei, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola Mobility, Tellabs, Zhone, ZTE) on 9 criteria. To buy the survey, contact Infonetics sales: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp.

RELATED RESEARCH

RECENT AND UPCOMING RESEARCH

Download BROADBAND ACCESS reports, tables of contents and prospectuses at http://www.infonetics.com/login or Infonetics’ Publication Calendar at http://bit.ly/zwjcRs.

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N. America (West), Asia, Latin America: Larry Howard, larry@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3335

N. America (East), Texas, Midwest: Scott Coyne, scott@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3395

Europe, Middle East, Africa: George Stojsavljevic, george@infonetics.com, +44-755-488-1623

Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp

ABOUT INFONETICS

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete effectively. View Infonetics’ About Us slides at http://bit.ly/QUrbrV.