A new report from Insight Research Corp. (Parsippany, NJ; www.insight-corp.com), "Customer Premises Fiber: The Business & Residential Inside Wiring Revolution," predicts the market for new home wiring systems will increase by more than 60 percent over the next four years, with spending rising from $302 million this year to more than $2.1 billion in 2004. Cabling manufacturers, the report says, are increasingly responding to residential user demand for a cable system that uses Category 5 for voice and data, plus RG-6 coaxial for TV-all in the same bundle.

"In the new residential market, distributors usually don't supply all the products," says Insight president Robert Rosenberg. "Manufacturers are jumping into the vacuum and building their own direct sales channels. LAN value-added resellers and some forward-looking contractors are also making headway. The single-family home is akin to a new frontier for cable manufacturers, so there is plenty of opportunity for new players to find a niche."

The Insight report also includes five-year forecasts for copper and fiber optic cable used for voice and data applications, and estimates shipments of various types of apparatus used to support fiber installations-including patch panels, workstation outlets, and connectors.