(9 December 2006 7:40 pm)

MUMBAI: The market for IPTV is expected to take off upto 1 million in China next year as fixed line operators seek ways to grow.

Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp vice-president network division Huang Dabin said, "IPTV could get a head-start next year in China."

Huang predicted the number of IPTV subscribers in China could exceed 1 million next year, up from the current 100,000 subscribers.

Fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom have been aggressively building trial IPTV networks since last year. This year, some commercial IPTV services have been operational in cities such as Shanghai.

"Fixed-line carriers are putting a big bet on IPTV as one of the top priorities of their business transformations, as IPTV promises a new revenue stream," added Huang.

China had 370 million fixed-line telephone subscribers and 449 million mobile phone subscribers as of October.