The global broadband boom is now unstoppable as worldwide sales revenues for broadband modems, routers and gateways rocket, industry analysts said today.

According to newly published research from Infonetics, sales of customer premise equipment (CPE) broadband kit jumped to $4.6bn in 2004, up 15 per cent from 2003.

In term of units shipped, the total of 73 million last year represented a staggering 74 per cent hike, according to the analyst firm's report.

The study found that broadband equipment revenue hit $1.16bn in the fourth quarter of 2004, down seven per cent from the previous quarter, despite unit growth of 17 per cent to 23.3 million.

Broadband growth continues to accelerate around the world, the report noted, fuelling unit growth. Unit shipments are projected to soar 191 per cent to almost 200 million, and revenue will grow 28 per cent to $5.6bn between 2004 and 2008.

"As DSL outpaces growth in other forms of broadband access, DSL CPE becomes an even more significant proportion of the overall CPE market," said Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics Research and lead author of the report.

"However, while unit growth continues apace throughout our forecast period, CPE prices erode, inhibiting overall revenue growth for broadband CPE."

According to the study, D-Link came top of the overall broadband modem, router and gateway revenue leaderboard in the fourth quarter, just ahead of Thomson. Motorola claimed third place, ahead of Cisco-Linksys and Siemens, which tied for fourth.

DSL CPE was found to account for up to 48 per cent of total revenue in the fourth quarter, while cable CPE made up 17 per cent, broadband gateways 25 per cent, and voice terminal adapters and IP set-top boxes made up the remainder.

Some 35 per cent of overall revenue during the fourth quarter was generated in North America, 33 per cent in EMEA and 27 per cent in Asia Pacific.