If you're suffering from withdrawal symptoms because Calix Networks Inc. isn't on this list, then here's the Top 10 Private Companies equivalent of the nicotine patch: PacketFront AB.

While there's little chance this Swedish broadband access company will help you control your cravings or stop you from biting your nails (possibly the filthiest of human habits), it might, unlike Calix (so far), deliver on the IPO or acquisition front.

The reasons are simple: It specializes in broadband access, one of the hottest sectors in town; it has experience in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments; it's developing GPON capabilities to tackle the Tier 2/Tier 3 market in North America and EMEA; and it is steadily bulking up its know-how through niche acquisitions, the latest being the takeover of DynamicCity, the operations company behind the UTOPIA fiber access initiative in the U.S. (See PacketFront Buys DynamicCity, PacketFront Buys Into VOIP, PacketFront Gets Into GPON, and Ericsson Adds to Euro GPON Action.)

Its success so far has come with utility firms, municipal networks, and other local service providers, and its strength in delivering to that kind of customer has helped it build a business that generated revenues of $53 million in 2006, a 57 percent increase year-on-year. (See EuroProfile: PacketFront, PacketFront Wins in Norway, and PacketFront Deployed in Sweden.)

Oh, and it's preparing for an IPO. (See PacketFront Gets $27M Deal, Eyes IPO.) Take that, Calix.

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