Global telecoms service providers snapped up more than $36bn of equipment to enhance wireline networks in 2007, according to recently published reports.

The Dell'Oro Group said that this spending has increased by more than 10 per cent over 2006 levels.

The analyst firm noted that sales to service providers for wireline infrastructure have not approached this level since 2000.

The largest increases in capital expenditure were on optical transport and routers, followed distantly by IP voice equipment (such as media gateways and soft switches) and carrier Ethernet switches.

Spending on broadband access and multi-service switching declined, the report found.

Cisco captured the bulk of spending on routers, while Alcatel-Lucent spent most on optical transport. Nokia Siemens and Nortel captured the majority of spending on IP voice equipment.