Providers spent $36B on wireline equipment: Dell’Oro

Sales of wireline equipment to telecom service providers worldwide rose 10 per cent from 2006 levels last year, reaching levels not seen since 2000, according to research firm Dell’Oro Group. Carriers shelled out US$36 billionfor equipment to improve their wireline networks, according to the company. The largest spending increases were on optical transport and routers. IP voice equipment (gateways, soft switches, etc.) and carrier Ethernet switches followed, while spending on multiservice switching and broadband access actually declined. Cisco Systems and Alcatel-Lucent both made substantial gains in market share, with perpetual leader Cisco reaching 34 per cent from 29 per cent, while Alcatel Lucent took 29 per cent of the market, up from 24 per cent in 2006. Huawei (14 per cent), Nortel (11 per cent) and Nokia Siemens (eight per cent) rounded out the top five, with Ericcson trailing with four per cent of the market.