Shipments of DSL equipment in the third quarter maintained the high volume seen in the second quarter, according to data released today from BroadbandTrends.com.

Nineteen million DSL ports were shipped in the third quarter--nearly as much as in the second quarter. The strongest growth in shipments occurred in North America.

In a statement issued by BroadbandTrends.com, principal analyst Teresa Mastrangelo called the momentum "phenomenal."

Asian vendors increased their DSL market share in the quarter at the expense of sector leader Alcatel. Huawei Technologies, the sector's second-place supplier, took 18% of the market after taking 17% in the second quarter. Third-place ZTE increased its share from 6% to 8% in the quarter. And Alcatel's 31% share slid to 28%.

In addition, ECI Telecom, which held less than 5% of the market in the second quarter, advanced to control 6%. Meanwhile, Lucent Technologies held onto its 7% share, and Siemens' share dropped from 8% to 5.3%.

The equipment being shipped is increasingly Ethernet-based. Forty percent of all the DSL ports shipped during the quarter were part of Ethernet-based platforms; in the second quarter, that figure was only 28%.