SAN MATEO, Calif. March 27 -- The global commercial consumption of dynamic gain equalizers (DGE) standalone plus integrated components in 2001 was $12 million and is forecasted to reach $451 million by 2006 with an average annual growth rate of 107 percent per year, according to a new ElectroniCast study. The "standalone" module share of this in 2001 was 87 percent, but it will drop (relatively) to 63 percent by 2006, the industry forecaster said. "DGEs are used in WDM fiber networks," ElectroniCast chairman and founder Jeff D. Montgomery said. "They are sold as a standard product, and also are a functional unit built into higher-level 'supercomponents' such as optical add/drop multiplexers and optical fiber amplifiers. There are numerous DGE vendors. At most of these vendors, the DGE as a standalone component in 2001 was developmental; not yet qualified for commercial consumption in revenue traffic networks," Montgomery said. The North American consumption of standalone DGEs directly into fibers of communication networks, plus DGE component consumption integrated into higher-level component assemblies, in 2001 was 52 percent of global consumption at $6 million. This share will decline over the next five years to 46 percent, while North American value rises to $207 million, ElectroniCast said.