60 mn IPTV subscribers by 2010 : TMG

(22 April 2008 1:00 pm)

MUMBAI: There will be nearly 60 million Internet Protocol television (IPTV) subscribers worldwide by the end of 2010, according to the latest report from Telecommunications Management Group (TMG).

IPTV has been doubling each year since its commercial
introduction in 2002, said the report titled IPTV: The Killer Broadband Application.

There were 9.9 million IPTV subscribers around the world at the end of 2007, more than double the previous year, and TMG projects more than a 500 per cent increase over the next three years.

According to TMG senior market analyst and lead author of the report Michael Minges, "IPTV is revolutionising the television market by introducing greater competition and providing consumers with a plethora of customizable content, viewable any time."

Other points of interest in the report include the finding that IPTV has succeeded in countries with relatively low pay television, but high broadband penetration. This is characteristic of some countries in Europe, which has the largest number of IPTV subscribers and where there are few regulatory obstacles, nationwide telecommunications operators and widely available broadband networks.

France Telecom is the largest IPTV operator in the world with 1.1 million subscribers at the end of 2007, followed by Verizon's Fios television service in the US. With over 50 per cent of its broadband subscribers using its "now" broadband TV service, Hong Kong's PCCW has the most successful overall uptake.

IPTV is not limited to high-income economies. China and India have launched IPTV, as have several countries in Africa. TMG forecasts that China and the US will be the world's largest IPTV markets by 2010.