A next-generation telecom networks provider with offices in China overtook a Paris-based company this year as the number one provider in IP Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer ports, according to new data.

Huawei also is poised to overtake Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) in total IP SLAM revenue share, according to Infonetics Research, a Campbell, California-based firm.

According to Mark Showalter, directing analyst for broadband networks at the market research firm, 2007 marked the peak for annual IP DSLAM revenue, as market saturation and substitution with multiservice access platforms have since taken their toll. 

“MSAPs will see growth primarily in emerging markets such as India, as service providers increase deployments to support triple play services,” Showalter said.

A DSLAM is a mechanism at a phone company’s central location that links many customer DSL connections to a single high-speed ATM line. 

Here’s how it works.

When the phone company receives a DSL signal, an ADSL modem with a POTS splitter detects voice calls and data. Voice calls are sent to the PSTN, and data are sent to the DSLAM, where it passes through the ATM to the Internet, then back through the DSLAM and ADSL modem before returning to the customer’s PC.

According to Infonetics’ report, “Broadband Aggregation Hardware and Subscribers,” despite Huawei’s  strong performance in the IP DSLAM segment, most of the technology’s vendors were down in the first quarter of this year, yielding a 12 percent overall revenue decline.

The report is designed to provide worldwide and regional forecasts, market size, and market share for MSAPs, next-gen DLCs, and DSLAMs split by ATM versus IP. According to Infonetics, DSL subscriber forecasts and port detail – such as ADSL, G.SHDSL, VDSL, PON OLT, Ethernet OLT, and DS0s – are included.

Companies tracked include ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, Calix, Ciena, Corecess, ECI, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Iskratel, Millinet, Motorola (News - Alert), NEC, Nokia Siemens Networks, Occam Networks, Paradyne, Samsung, Sumitomo, Teledata, Tellabs, UTStarcom, Woojyun, Zhone, ZTE and ZyXEL.

According to the report, the overall broadband aggregation market decreased 11 percent in the first quarter, to $1.2 billion. Infonetics officials say the overall market faces long-term decline as two of the four main component systems – ATM DSLAMs and next-gen DLCs – are at the end of their life cycles.

Despite Huawei’s gains on the company, Alcatel-Lucent remains the top revenue leader in the overall broadband ggregation hardware market, Infonetics reports, followed by Huawei, ZTE, and then Nokia  Siemens. The number of worldwide DSL subscribers will hit 352 million in 2011, Infonetics predicts in its report.

Source:Telecom Paper