4/16/2007 -- Attention, passive optical networking (PON) enthusiasts: you might want to make sure you're sitting down. According to market watcher Infonetics Research, PON equipment sales grew sequentially by 12 percent in Q4 of 2004, reaching $308 million. And if that isn't enough to get you going, PON revenues were up more than 70 percent for the year -- cresting at nearly $1 billion.

PON's ascendance comes even as BPON equipment sales are plummeting, Infonetics said. Elsewhere, EPON and GPON sales are also surging, with GPON equipment revenues (and hardware ports) expected to grow at a triple-digit five-year compound annual growth rate through 2010.

The upshot, Infonetics reported, is that surging EPON and GPON sales will help offset the decline in BPON and continue to drive growth in the broader PON market. By 2010, the Infonetics projected, the overall PON market could amount to nearly $2.4 billion.

"Service providers of all shapes and sizes are pushing fiber deeper into their access networks to support the demand for video, online gaming, P2P networking and other bandwidth-intensive applications," said Infonetics analyst Jeff Heynen in a statement. "GPON and EPON for both FTTH and FTTB applications continue to increase, as does Ethernet FTTH, which has become the preferred technology for smaller, North American operators, as well as for cities, municipalities and a growing number of competitive operators."

Drilling down, Infonetics said, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) PON equipment revenue -- which accounts for 60 percent of the overall market -- grew 72 percent in 2006.

Meanwhile, fiber-to-the-business (FTTB) equipment revenues grew by 69 percent. FTTB sales account for 40 percent of the overall PON market.

Worldwide Ethernet FTTH equipment revenues were also up, surging by 58 percent (with port shipments increasing by a whopping 54 percent) in 2006; Ethernet FTTH revenues and port shipments should continue to post double-digit growth through 2010, Infonetics said.

Meanwhile, PON subscriber expansion also continues unabated. PON subscribers doubled between 2004 and 2005, and nearly doubled again last year, reaching 6.5 million. By 2010, Infonetics predicts, the number of PON subscribers could explode to more than 40 million. --Stephen Swoyer