“We slightly raised our outlook for the routing market due to improving market conditions,” stated Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “From our perspective, the inventory correction that pulled sales of high-end routers down by 18 percent in 2024 is behind us. Looking ahead, we see numerous opportunities for routers as economic conditions improve and bandwidth demands increase.

“Our forecasts are primarily driven by subscriber growth trends and typical usage behavior, and for the 5G MCN segment, we currently project a 6 percent CAGR,” said Dave Bolan, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “However, the emergence of Generative AI and Agentic AI could significantly change network demands, especially with increased data traffic and expectations for continuous, low-latency connectivity.

Broadband Access Equipment market to grow 1.6% CAGR through 2029, peaking in 2028, fueled by DOCSIS 4.0 and fiber builds. Operators are expanding networks while shifting to AI-driven, converged services. Jeff Heynen says future success lies in delivering personalized broadband tiers based on user experience, not just speed.

“After two consecutive years of steep declines that wiped out nearly $9 B of RAN equipment revenues globally, it is encouraging that market conditions are now stabilizing,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President for RAN market research at Dell’Oro Group.