The worldwide optical transport equipment market saw more sequential growth in the second quarter of 2005 than it has since 2000, according to data released this week from Dell’Oro Group.

Global revenue from optical transport equipment grew 10% sequentially in the second quarter to $2.1 billion, a 28% increase from a year earlier. In North America, the market grew 19% sequentially to $639 million, a 37% increase from a year earlier and the third consecutive quarter of sequential growth here.

"It looks like the tide has turned, and the optical market is on the upswing again," said Dell'Oro analyst Jimmy Yu, in a statement issued by the company Thursday. “The last time there was strong sequential growth in the optical market was in 2000.”

Leading the global optical transport market in the second quarter were, in order, Alcatel, Nortel Networks, Huawei Technologies and Fujitsu Network Communications. Huawei saw the most growth in the quarter, with a 46% year-over-year gain, while Alcatel saw the most modest year-over-year growth: 7%.

Fujitsu led the North American optical market in the second quarter, followed by, in order, Nortel, Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies. Lucent reported the highest year-over-year growth in North American optical revenue (63%), while Nortel saw the lowest (8%).

The global router market also saw its highest sequential increase since 2000 in the second quarter, Dell’Oro reported this week, with 8% growth yielding a $2.5-billion market.

Dell’Oro predicts the optical transport market will grow 18% in 2005.