DSL Sales Are Up, Revenue Down in 3rd Q: Report

Digital subscriber line (DSL) aggregation hardware sales continued their growth curve last quarter, despite a slight drop in revenues, according to a new report from Infonetics Research.

Worldwide DSL aggregation port shipments grew 1% to almost 21 million in the third quarter of 2005, according to Infonetics' DSL Aggregation Hardware report, following a 19% rise in the second quarter. Despite the increase in shipments, however, revenues fell 2% to $1.57 after the 11% increase last quarter.

Nevertheless, some DSL segments experience more significant growth during the period, driven in part by carriers and service provider investments in technologies to deliver new Internet services like video on demand, audio on demand, 3D graphics, interactive games and video telephony. The number of broadband loop carrier (BLC) very high bit-rate DSL (VDSL) port shipments more than doubled last quarter, while IP DSL access multiplexer shipments rose 22%.

The steady growth of the DSL aggregation market reflects a growing demand for DSL services. According to Infonetics, the worldwide number of DSL subscribers grew 70% between 2003 and 2004 to reach 98.6 million, and the firm expects the trend to continue, with the number of subscribers reaching 195.6 million in 2008.