Global broadband access equipment revenue reached $4.8 billion (€4.41 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 7% quarter-on-quarter and 2% year-on-year, according to Dell’Oro Group.
Despite the stronger final quarter, full-year 2025 remained down on an annual basis, though Dell’Oro said the improvement points to a stronger market in 2026.
Jeff Heynen, vice president at Dell’Oro Group, said 2025 marked the end of a three-year period of reduced spending on broadband access equipment as service providers focused more closely on subscriber growth and measured network expansion.
That shift in spending resulted in greater emphasis on customer premises equipment, with 5G fixed wireless CPE unit shipments increasing 11% during 2025, while PON CPE unit shipments rose 4%.
Among other highlights from Dell’Oro’s fourth quarter Broadband Access and Home Networking report, PON ONT unit shipments reached 158 million, supported by year-on-year growth across almost all regions.
At the same time, spending on DOCSIS infrastructure fell 21% compared with 2024, while Remote PHY Device spending dropped 47% over the year. Dell’Oro expects that to change in 2026 as major cable operators step up DAA and DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades.
The report also found that residential Wi-Fi 7 router shipments grew 211% in 2025, driven by lower-cost dual-band products shipping in China and Southeast Asia.
