Sales of softswitches and media gateways grew 8 percent to $742 million in the second quarter of 2006, following declining sales during the first quarter, according to the Dell’Oro Group.

The market was generally strong, but a surge in shipments into Europe paced the quarter.
 
The company said softswitch sales for Voice-over-Broadband subscriber services were particularly strong this quarter, climbing 66 percent over year ago levels, driven by both cable and phone companies bundling VoIP with data services.

The report also indicates shipments of media gateways were especially strong in North America where carriers expanded their core trunk networks. In contrast, shipments into Asia Pacific were weaker during the quarter in large part because of declining trunk network transformations and PHS wireless sales in China.