The service provider core router market declined for the sixth consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new report from Dell’Oro Group. Market revenue fell to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2009 as network operators continued to shave investments in backbone networks.

“For the past two years, we have seen many service providers prioritize investments for mobile and residential broadband networks and scale back core router purchases” said Shin Umeda, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “We expect the core router market to rebound in 2013 as network operators rebuilding capacity with the latest generation of high capacity router,” added Umeda.