Infonetics Research  recently released the first quarter edition of its Cable Modem Termination system and Edge QAM hardware and subscribers report.

Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and video at Infonetics (News - Alert)Research said that Latin American Operators had finally ramped up their CMTS purchases in the first quarter of 2010. This has led to an expansion in capacity and greenfield operations.

Indicating that the operators had spent four times their quarterly norm, Heynen said that it had been a record quarter as far as CMTS sales in Central and Latin America region were considered. The increase pushed the worldwide cable broadband equipment market up by 13 percent in what was typically a down quarter due to Q4 budget flushing.

The highlights of the report indicated a combined worldwide CMTS and edge QAM increase by 13 percent to $416 million between the last quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010,  while shipments of CMTS ports to Latin America jumped 330 percent during the same period.

Operators in the EMEA region loosened their purse strings to add CMTS downstream capacity. Both CMTS and edge QAM witnessed atypical growth in Q1 2010.

Upstart Casa Systems made significant headway in the CMTS market in 1Q10 and is expected to continue to make headway in the market, especially if Chinese cable operators opt for a DOCSIS architecture.

Helped by the availability of its 20x20 card, Cisco's (News - Alert)share of the critical North American CMTS market jumped 21 percentage points in1Q10 over 4Q09.

For Vendors as cable operators in china, the edge QAM market represents a broadening opportunity as they add edge QAM capacity to transition to digital simulcast and add video on demand services.

Infonetics' CMTS and edge QAM report is based on feedback from wideband cable broadband subscribers, upstream and downstream CMTS revenue and ports, and edge QAM channels and revenue by application.

The report provides worldwide and regional CMTS vendor market share for leading companies and provides a complete view of the market through constant interaction.

Information about published and upcoming broadband market research can be had from the Infonetics portal.