Digital Lifescapes

Available Internet access at an affordable cost is essential for everyone to participate in the Global Networked Economy. The deployment of fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications infrastructure is enabling the introduction of lower-cost broadband services in some markets. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) allows mobile network operators (MNO) to deliver high-speed Internet connections in areas that have either insufficient or no prior wireline broadband access services. It's also used in urban, suburban, and rural areas where fiber optic communication is considered too expensive to install and maintain. With this new technology, MNOs have the potential to provide broadband capability at similar levels to fiber optic networks. Fixed Wireless Access Market Development Therefore, FWA can be used to supplement existing wired broadband Internet service offerings, provide additional broadband capacity, or act as a backup service for home or business applications. Although FWA is well es...

The Work from Home (WFH) phenomena has fueled the need for more devices, better internet access, and secure networking technologies. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic is now driving demand for Wi-Fi customer premise equipment (CPE) as millions of people work and learn from their homes. According to the latest global market study by ABI Research, the closely related worldwide Wi-Fi CPE market will see vendors ship more than 223 million units in 2020 -- that's a surge of 10 million units from 2019 reported growth. "Stay-at-home orders imposed in the first quarter of 2020 forced millions of consumers to work from home and students to do home-based learning, creating the need for ultra-reliable broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity in households worldwide," said Khin Sandi Lynn, an analyst at ABI Research . Wi-Fi CPE Market Development There has been a sudden spike in the adoption of Wi-Fi routers and wireless network extenders as consumers seek a reliable Wi-Fi connection that can simu...

Fixed wireless broadband communication services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology have been deployed globally, focused on areas with a poor wireline network infrastructure. Now, 5G wireless technology could open more opportunities for the fixed wireless broadband segment. As mobile network operators continue to deploy 5G network infrastructure, the commercial launch of 5G fixed wireless broadband services will accelerate in the next few years. This will ultimately drive the 5G fixed wireless Consumer Premise Equipment (CPE) market. ABI Research forecasts that shipments of 5G fixed wireless broadband CPE will reach more than 2 million units in 2020. 5G Broadband Market Development 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) delivers several benefits to both telecom network operators and consumers. The deployment of 5G fixed wireless broadband networks in place of last-mile fiber connectivity will save costs and time to install fiber-optic lines while providing Gigabit capacity b...

Traditional telecom networking equipment vendors have been preparing for the ongoing transition from hardware-centric business models of the past to a more software-oriented model. Meanwhile, the leading telecom service providers continue to adopt low-cost commodity hardware and open source software. According to the latest worldwide market study by IHS Markit , 100 percent of the telecom service providers participating in their recent survey say they will deploy Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) at some point, with 81 percent expecting to do so by 2017. Moreover, 59 percent of telecom network operator respondents have already deployed or will deploy NFV this year. However, integrating NFV into existing networks is an issue for a majority of survey respondents, as is the perceived lack of carrier-grade products. Regardless of these concerns, telecom service providers around the globe are rapidly moving toward NFV, which the latest study by IHS Markit bears out. NFV and SDN M...

The device that broadband service providers place in a subscriber's home could be a point of differentiation, but most are basically alike. The vendors merely attempt to reach parity with the stated industry standard requirements. The products are often procured based upon the lowest price. It's surprising that there is no start-up company that's truly attempting to disrupt this product category. Surely, the service providers would notice if anyone created some meaningful and substantive innovation. Telecom and cable companies have said that they crave vendors that offer new ideas. Worldwide broadband customer premise equipment (CPE) shipments are expected to reach 151.9 million by the end of 2014, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. "The residential gateway segment continues to grow at a rapid pace. We expect global shipments will grow more than 9 percent in 2014," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . ...

Telecom and Cable TV broadband service providers have continued to invest in their infrastructure during 2013. Broadband customer premise equipment (CPE) shipments at the end of 2013 were expected to surpass 147 million units, according to the latest global market study by ABI Research. The CPE devices counted include broadband modems, wired routers, and home gateways. Despite a growing broadband subscriber base and increasing demand for advanced broadband services, broadband CPE shipments are only expected to grow to 150 million in 2014. "Increasing adoption of fiber-optic broadband services is driving the growth of fiber-optic CPE shipments," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . Fiber-optic CPE will represent 26 percent of overall broadband CPE shipped in 2014. Cable and DSL CPE devices will have equal market share of around 37 percent. As cable broadband operators rapidly extend to DOCSIS 3.0 networks, related DOCSIS CPE shipment is gainin...

Across the globe, the increasing demand for wireline broadband Internet access creates the need for additional network infrastructure, and the associated modem and/or router devices that are installed at the subscriber location. In 2Q11, 39.8 million broadband customer premise equipment (CPE) units shipped, a 5.6 percenet increase from the previous quarter and a 13.9 percent increase from the same quarter last year. Total revenues were $1.49 billion, a 3.1 percent decrease from the previous quarter -- and that's down 1.4 percent from last previous year, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . “In terms of overall unit shipment market share growth, TP-LINK continues to gain market share, growing over 20 percent, while NETGEAR also gained that amount,” says Brad Shaffer, Analyst at In-Stat. Pace and Cisco Small Business also experienced market share gains from the previous quarter. In-Stat's latest market study insights include: SOHO (small office...

The residential gateway opportunity continues to rise in the broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) market. The upside is primarily due to telco service providers favoring gateways over modems, since they fulfill consumer demand and promise greater future revenue possibilities. As a result of the latest market study by In-Stat , they now forecast that residential gateway revenues will surpass $10 billion in 2015. "We define residential gateways as essentially any type of broadband modem that also includes routing and/or wireless access point capabilities, says Vahid Dejwakh, Analyst at In-Stat. More and more different types of modems now also come with embedded Wi-Fi, which qualifies them as residential gateways, and many more telco service providers are supplying residential gateways instead of just DSL broadband modems. This is not only because customers request gateway features, but also to present possible future service add-ons and to increase the broadband servi...

Residential Gateways continued their growth within the broadband service provider customer premise equipment (CPE) market during the third quarter of 2010 -- rising 4.9 percent from the previous quarter and 43.2 percent from a year ago. Residential Gateway devices represented nearly 40 percent of all broadband CPE shipments in 3Q10, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . "The overall broadband CPE market grew for the 2nd consecutive quarter in 3Q10 and, as in last quarter, the growth is primarily a result of increases in Residential Gateway shipments," says Brad Shaffer, Industry Analyst at In-Stat. This growth trend is likely to continue for the next several cycles. In-Stat's latest market study found the following: - In 3Q10, 30.3 million broadband CPE units were shipped, a 1.7 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 5.1 percent increase from the same quarter last year. - Cable modem unit shipments were up 10.7 percent from the previous ...

Broadband service providers continue to evolve their customer premise equipment (CPE) requirements, as growing consumer demand and new multimedia applications expand the digital home market. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , residential gateway unit shipments were up 18.1 percent from the previous quarter and 37 percent from the same quarter last year. This growth surge was lead by Europe which posted more than a 30 percent increase in unit shipments. Technicolor was the global leader in both unit shipment and revenue market shares. "The overall Broadband CPE market grew in 2Q10 but this was predominately as a result of significant increases in Residential Gateway shipments," says Brad Shaffer, Industry Analyst at In-Stat. "This is a continuation of an on-going trend that began in 4Q09." Highlights from the In-Stat market study include: - Total broadband CPE revenues for 2Q10 were $1.52 billion. - D-Link saw the biggest revenue market sh...

Infonetics Research released excerpts from its first quarter (1Q10) Broadband CPE and Subscribers market study, which tracks DSL and cable broadband customer-premise equipment (CPE) and subscribers, voice CPE, residential gateways, and voice terminal adapters. The first quarter of the year is usually one of the worst for the broadband customer premise equipment market, as net subscriber additions and new CPE sales slow after the much better third and fourth quarters. This quarter was also hurt by lingering economic difficulties worldwide, which are keeping many consumers from upgrading their existing broadband CPE to support new services. "In particular, we saw a big drop in ADSL CPE in 1Q10, as operators are focused on deploying FTTH and VDSL2 services and are spending less to market their basic broadband services. All in all, 2010 will be a difficult year for CPE vendors, as operators see fewer new subscribers and will do what they can to use their existing inventory rath...

According to a new IMS Research assessment, the FCC has adopted the disruptive technology formed when the "open" home network standard DLNA is combined with DTCP-IP and seems determined to use the opportunity to mandate the end of the "closed" pay-TV digital set-top box (STB). The FCC goal: enable any consumer electronics (CE) manufacturer's devices to access pay-TV content, which the Commission believes would foster meaningful new competition and innovation in smart video devices. The current restrictive vendor-centric service delivery model will be replaced by the FCC's non-restrictive AllVid concept -- which is a Pay-TV Gateway that translates from the platform-specific modulation and encryption (Conditional Access) to DLNA & DTCP-IP. The proprietary STB will be replaced with standards-based Digital Media Adapters that support the same protocols. An increasing number of TVs and Blu-Ray players are also including DLNA & DTCP-IP standards sup...

Shipments of pay-TV set-top boxes will continue to rise during the next few years as consumer viewing patterns shift and as video delivered via the Internet becomes more popular, according to the latest market study by iSuppli Corp . A total of 147.8 million set-top boxes will ship worldwide in 2010 -- up 11.5 percent from 132.6 million units last year. Shipments will continue to rise in the next few years and reach 193.9 million units by 2014. The continued growth of set-top boxes coincides with projections for worldwide subscribers to Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), and over-the-top IP Video services, according to Jagdish Rebello, iSuppli senior director. Global IPTV subscribers will increase to more than 123 million units by 2014, up from about 33 million at the end of 2009 -- rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 30 percent. "The rise in numbers in both set-top boxes and IPTV subscribers bears profound implications for consumers and OEMs, signaling a major para...

The top three important factors U.S. consumers cited in their purchasing decisions of Broadband Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) were speed, security, and Wi-Fi wireless range, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. The least important features were product brand, followed by "green" environmental friendliness. Meaning, it's a typical commodity consumer electronics product category. "While companies are marketing their "green" equipment features, the message doesn't appear to be resonating with consumers," says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. "Consumers want performance and security." It's not clear from the survey result if In-Stat asked about ease-of-use preferences, since poor device configuration design is often cited in prior consumer surveys of broadband CPE. The research also reveals that while 2008 was the slowest total global broadband (CPE) market growth of the decade, 2009 will be even slower. Fortunately, select...

To date, the slowest total global broadband service provider Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) market growth this decade had been 2.4 percent (154M units) in 2008, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. 2009 will be even slower. However, cable gateways, Wi-Fi and VoIP routers, and wireless and VoIP DSL CPE units continue to grow in at least double digits. In addition, several segments of the broadband CPE market, including cable gateways, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) gateways, and Fixed Wireless Broadband (FWB) CPE are expected to grow considerably faster than the overall market over five years. "Gigabit Ethernet, VoIP, the DSL Forum's TR-69, and 802.11n are all drivers for CPE upgrades and replacements," says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. "We're also seeing accelerated growth in FTTH CPE unit shipments in 2009." In-Stat's market study found the following: - The overall broadband CPE market includes broadband modems, routers, and residential gat...

By 2013, the average household will have 2.5 times as many digital media devices -- computing, gaming, stationary digital consumer electronics, portable and mobile wireless devices -- in use as compared with 2008, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Accompanying this adoption will be a rise in the number of these devices that are network-enabled, leveraging various wired mediums and wireless technologies, like coax, phone wiring, powerline, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. Networking over wiring that already exists in homes is becoming increasingly important. This is particularly the case among broadband service provider entertainment networks that connect set-top boxes together and to residential gateways. "Over the next few years, service providers will drive the growth of in-home networks" says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. Digital media entertainment networks tie set-top boxes together, enabling additional services, such as whole-home DVR. Providers will encourage mor...

The global semiconductor opportunity in standard definition (SD) Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) Set Top Boxes will peak in 2011 at nearly $500 million. High-definition DTT Set Top Boxes also offer a short term spike in semiconductor opportunity. However, SD DTT Set Top Boxes are the more sustainable opportunity for semiconductor manufacturers, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. "The U.S. analog shut off is driving a surge of HD converter boxes in 2008 and 2009," says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. "However, this bubble will wane, while the SD DTT market continues to grow across a broader set of geographic markets." Their report includes worldwide and regional forecasts for standard definition and HD STB shipments, revenue, bill of materials and component revenue through 2013. Extensive country-level unit/revenue shipment detail for major countries in Europe, North America and Asia -- including HD and DVR segmentation. Plus, the analog shut off timetabl...

Just a few years ago, broadband service providers drew a very clear line defining their responsibility once they connected a residence to their communication network. Typically, they refused to support the in-home network, especially the electronic devices that consumers use. However, this trend has since changed in the face of fierce competition and in a market where people are looking to connect multiple devices to their home network for rich media distribution around the home. A recent ABI Research study focused on the residential broadband market forecasts intelligent broadband gateways to produce double-digit annual growth results over the six-year forecast period ending in 2013. ABI Research industry analyst Serene Fong notes that, "Intelligent broadband gateways will gain popularity and account for more than 40 percent of home networking CPE shipments by 2012." Basic equipment with limited intelligence and management capabilities currently dominates more than half of t...

Demand for managed network service (MNS) providers is growing fast as enterprises of all sizes grapple with increasing network traffic and complexity. At the same time, enterprises are seeing their services budgets shrink. This has created an intensely competitive landscape among global MNS providers, and even the industry's bellwether providers face new and significant competitive threats. In a new report, independent market analyst firm Datamonitor ranks 13 of the world's leading MNS providers based on their network services, end-user sentiment and market impact. The global MNS market is extremely competitive, particularly among the large telecommunications providers and conglomerate systems integrators that dominate it -- AT&T, BT Global Services, HP Services and IBM Global Technology Services. Yet new threats are emerging in the form of smaller, more agile rivals, such as CSC, Orange Business Services, Verizon Business and Vanco, despite the latter's recent financi...

The advent of high speed broadband connections and changes in requirements have led to improved connectivity as informed consumers demand real -- globally competitive -- high-speed Internet access. Basic broadband modem devices currently account for more than half of the market, but they will soon become obsolete as full-fledged multimedia digital home gateways with high throughput take over the market. A new ABI Research market study focused on residential gateways forecasts that home networking consumer premises equipment (CPE) and aggregation devices will deliver at least $1.8 billion in annual revenues by the end of 2013. ABI Research industry analyst Serene Fong observes that, "Broadband households have a high propensity to adopt home networks and broadband subscribers will be the primary candidates for gateway products designed to distribute Internet bandwidth and multimedia applications." The only question that equipment vendors have is about the speed of the broadband...