What was the adjusted EBITDA increase in the Home Networks segment in 2021-Q1
 EBITDA of $74 million declined 17%, primarily driven by lower volumes. During the first quarter, CommScope saw continued strength in 5G-related orders from T-Mobile as this important customer continues to move aggressively to deploy at 600 megahertz and 2.5 gigahertz spectrum. We anticipate C-Band-related 5G spending on CommScope products by other major North American carriers to accelerate later this year and thereafter.
However, in the shorter term, we're seeing a lower spending levels from these carriers than we experienced during the first half of 2020. As the race to 5G progresses, CommScope offers a broad portfolio of products and solutions that carriers will need to support comprehensive upgrades to their macro tower infrastructure. Telco carriers recognize CommScope as a leading provider of everything on the macro tower except radios. This does not include only base station antennas supporting 5G frequencies, but also a wide range of complementary products and solutions that will be critical to operators, as they manage the added complexity of 5G tower configurations. These solutions include HELIAX, coaxial and fiber cabling, power shift power management, cabinets and steel reinforcements, which, together with our passive and active antenna solutions provide a complete toolkit for 5G tower upgrades. CommScope also continues to innovate around 5G use cases, as demonstrated by our integrated active/passive antenna solution in partnership with Nokia.
We now have over a dozen trials of this product ongoing with European, Middle Eastern and Latin American customers and we anticipate that this hybrid solution will gain interest among U.S. carriers as a unique and cost-efficient tool for managing the 4G to 5G transition. I would add that after several quarters of softness, our metro cell business is starting to pick up as municipalities begin to clear some of the COVID-related backlog of zoning and permitting applications for the metro layer densification projects that will also be required to provide seamless 5G connectivity. Turning to slide 11 for our Home Networks segment. Net sales of $489 million declined 19% in across most regions. Despite healthy demand for both video and broadband gateway products during the quarter, the Home Networks' revenue decline was driven almost exclusively by an acute shortage of semiconductor chips. Adjusted EBITDA of $16 million increased 38% from the prior year despite this topline decline.
This improvement in profitability was primarily driven by the significant cost optimization actions taken over the past 18 months to better align the segment's cost structure to its recent revenue performance. The combination of strong demand and constrained ability to ship products led to a sharp growth in backlog during the quarter, which has risen to more than two times historical averages, the highest level since we acquired the business in 2019. We believe that these supply chain difficulties are transitory and that we will eventually convert this backlog into sales. However, our current view is that we may not see a return to a fully normalized silicon supply environment until early 2022. Given that we have been very proactive in taking costs out of the Home Networks business, we're confident that the segment will show improved financial results once the silicon shortage subsides. Within the video business unit, Home Networks continued to score wins with new and innovative IP streamer products. This is particularly true in international markets where we've had success during the first quarter with new orders for streaming devices in Europe and Zebra processes in the Asia Pacific region as well as traditional set-top wins in key Eastern European countries.
For the broadband gateway business, Home continues to build on multiple DOCSIS 3.1 gateway wins in the highly strategic Latin America market and is also gaining traction for the XB7 platform with North American syndication players. Turning to slide 12 for an update on our cash flow. For the first quarter, cash flow from operations was a us
 EBITDA of $74 million declined 17%, primarily driven by lower volumes. During the first quarter, CommScope saw continued strength in 5G-related orders from T-Mobile as this important customer continues to move aggressively to deploy at 600 megahertz and 2.5 gigahertz spectrum. We anticipate C-Band-related 5G spending on CommScope products by other major North American carriers to accelerate later this year and thereafter.
However, in the shorter term, we're seeing a lower spending levels from these carriers than we experienced during the first half of 2020. As the race to 5G progresses, CommScope offers a broad portfolio of products and solutions that carriers will need to support comprehensive upgrades to their macro tower infrastructure. Telco carriers recognize CommScope as a leading provider of everything on the macro tower except radios. This does not include only base station antennas supporting 5G frequencies, but also a wide range of complementary products and solutions that will be critical to operators, as they manage the added complexity of 5G tower configurations. These solutions include HELIAX, coaxial and fiber cabling, power shift power management, cabinets and steel reinforcements, which, together with our passive and active antenna solutions provide a complete toolkit for 5G tower upgrades. CommScope also continues to innovate around 5G use cases, as demonstrated by our integrated active/passive antenna solution in partnership with Nokia.
We now have over a dozen trials of this product ongoing with European, Middle Eastern and Latin American customers and we anticipate that this hybrid solution will gain interest among U.S. carriers as a unique and cost-efficient tool for managing the 4G to 5G transition. I would add that after several quarters of softness, our metro cell business is starting to pick up as municipalities begin to clear some of the COVID-related backlog of zoning and permitting applications for the metro layer densification projects that will also be required to provide seamless 5G connectivity. Turning to slide 11 for our Home Networks segment. Net sales of $489 million declined 19% in across most regions. Despite healthy demand for both video and broadband gateway products during the quarter, the Home Networks' revenue decline was driven almost exclusively by an acute shortage of semiconductor chips. Adjusted EBITDA of $16 million increased 38% from the prior year despite this topline decline.
 This improvement in profitability was primarily driven by the significant cost optimization actions taken over the past 18 months to better align the segment's cost structure to its recent revenue performance. The combination of strong demand and constrained ability to ship products led to a sharp growth in backlog during the quarter, which has risen to more than two times historical averages, the highest level since we acquired the business in 2019. We believe that these supply chain difficulties are transitory and that we will eventually convert this backlog into sales. However, our current view is that we may not see a return to a fully normalized silicon supply environment until early 2022. Given that we have been very proactive in taking costs out of the Home Networks business, we're confident that the segment will show improved financial results once the silicon shortage subsides. Within the video business unit, Home Networks continued to score wins with new and innovative IP streamer products. This is particularly true in international markets where we've had success during the first quarter with new orders for streaming devices in Europe and Zebra processes in the Asia Pacific region as well as traditional set-top wins in key Eastern European countries.
For the broadband gateway business, Home continues to build on multiple DOCSIS 3.1 gateway wins in the highly strategic Latin America market and is also gaining traction for the XB7 platform with North American syndication players. Turning to slide 12 for an update on our cash flow. For the first quarter, cash flow from operations was a us