Fibre Optic Cable -- North America/Large incumbents hold steady, but smaller operators drive growth

摘要

North American cable demand for the first three quarters was 22.2 million fibre-km, and we're projecting 28.8 million fibre-km for the year, 55 percent of which is in FTTx applications. Of the cable used for FTTx projects, about two-thirds or about 11 million fibre-km is installed by the major incumbents: AT&T, Bell Canada, Qwest, Telus, and Verizon. This group represents strong but stable demand and has not contributed to the year-on-year growth in 2008. The growth is driven by projects of smaller independent telephone companies, CLECs, municipalities, local utility operators, and real estate developers. This group is responsible for hundreds of projects, which can range from just one or two thousand households passed to tens of thousands.