Passive optical networks (PONs), optical network units (ONUs), optical network terminals (ONTs) and very-high-speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) port shipments “grew strongly” in the recent Q2, according to a new study.

A market analysis from Ovum (News - Alert) also showed that other segments of the market lagged, however.

Overall Q2 DSL shipments were down, but VDSL2 reached a record 6.3 million, Ovum said. 

Among key regions, in North America, VDSL2 was 57 percent of all DSL shipments, and was 43 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The Asia-Pacific region and China led in sales of PON ONTs and ONUs.

“We noticed the first year-over-year decline in global PON OLT port shipments in more than three years,” the Ovum report adds.

“The division that has opened up recently between PON volume and revenue trends continued in 2Q12 due to price wars, particularly in China, and will have an impact on vendor results and strategy,” Kamalini Ganguly, an Ovum analyst at the Network Infrastructure Practice, said in a statement. “The conversation in fixed access tends to be around shipment volumes, but the focus should really be on revenues and profits. The PON price wars in China and elsewhere are not sustainable. Revenues are not keeping pace with growth in volumes. Vendors – even Huawei (News - Alert) – are being pickier about projects and markets. If price pressures continue, there may be more vendor consolidation like that of Calix’s acquisition of Ericsson’s (News - Alert) PON portfolio.”

“CMTS (cable modem termination system) annualized shipments in North America and EMEA are at their peak,” Ganguly added.

In related news on the sector, Vivacom has selected Alcatel-Lucent's (News - Alert) gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) solution. Vivacom will be providing 100Mbps to customers in the Bulgarian cities of Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv in 2012. A large increase in available broadband speeds is necessary to support faster download and upload speeds.

Overall, global optical networking equipment spending in Q2 declined, Ovum said in a recent study. However, there was growth of six percent and 19 percent in Asia-Pacific and South & Central America (SCA) regions, respectively, compared with the spending levels for Q2 in 2011. 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.