The global PON equipment market revenue is forecast to reach $7.3 billion by 2023, according to a PON spending forecast from the Dell’Oro Group. Spending is primarily driven by new 10 Gbps EPON and XGS-PON deployments, as well as investments to maximize existing 2.5 Gbps GPON networks.

According to the research firm, telecom operators and ISPs are focused on XGS-PON for next-generation deployments.

“Fiber deployments continue to expand around the world, thanks to increased competition and an improved funding environment for both public and private networks,” said Jeff Heynen, Dell’Oro Group research director, in a prepared statement. “Today’s XGS-PON trials are quickly moving to production deployments, positioning operators to compete with cable DOCSIS 3.1 networks.”

Other findings from the Dell’Oro Group Broadband Access 5-Year Forecast Report:

• Broadband Access market projected to increase at a 4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the forecast period.
• Spending on cable infrastructure will only reach $1.6 B by 2023, as cable operators slow their Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) purchases while focusing on their Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) deployments.
• VDSL Profile 35b and Gfast will offset some, but not all of the revenue loss from declining ADSL and VDSL port shipments. Some major Gfast deployments are already seeing signs of shrinking, as operators increase their investments in fiber.