According to new pay-TV market data from ABI Research, IPTV will grow by an estimated 32% annually over the next six years to nearly 79 million subscribers globally by the end of 2014. The study notes that the increase in IPTV usage/deployment will be dominated first by countries that are technologically advanced, and then to developing countries whose infrastructure is weaker. Growth will be driven by the high-speed broadband sector, as well as the changing needs of both users and businesses.
An analyst at ABI Research says,
“IPTV usage will be robust as prices of high speed broadband fall and more users start adopting multimedia services. Usage will initially be concentrated in countries with established high speed Internet technologies such as France, the Netherlands, South Korea and Hong Kong. But as technology progresses and matures, developing countries such as China will rapidly catch up in subscription numbers.”
IPTV is not a threat to all, at least not just yet. Satellite and cable TV are likely to retain their footholds for some time in certain markets. However, their growth rates will slow as IPTV catches on.
Recent IPTV Announcements showcase this growing trend (but its not all perfect news)
- This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was dominated by announcements by the likes of Yahoo!, Netflix and LG Electronics - all showcasing new IPTV technology and streamlined services.
- Microsoft announced that its Mediaroom IPTV software is being used by a Chinese TV provider ‘Guangzhou Digital Media Group’.
- Phone companies are also using IP technology to provide TV services that compete with satellite and cable operators. This includes AT&T, and Verizon Communications (Fios TV) in the US.
- That said, Tiscali TV Italia recently pulled the plug on their IPTV plans, and BT Vision has had slow take-up of its service (perhaps Project Canvas will fare better?)
What is IPTV?
And how is it different from Online Video?
Click here to see our analysis of IPTV vs. Online Video
(Internet Protocol TV) Also called “TV over IP,” IPTV delivers scheduled TV programs and video-on-demand (VOD) via the IP protocol and digital streaming techniques used to watch video on the Internet. In order to receive and decode the images in real time, the user requires either an IPTV set-top box or a computer and software-based media player.
IPTV enables a data-voice-video “triple play” service to be based entirely on IP because Internet access, voice over IP (VoIP) and IPTV all use the same IP packet format. To compete with cable TV, the telephone companies have taken the lead with IPTV over DSL lines. Rather than tune into one of many video channels being transmitted simultaneously over cable TV, IPTV users request a particular channel, which is routed to the user just like every other data resource on the Internet. (source: PC Mag)
Some leading IPTV Providers include:
- Alice Home TV (Italy)
- Aliant TV (Canada)
- Belgacom (Belgium)
- BT Vision (UK)
- Deutsche Telecom (Germany)
- Fastweb (Italy)
- hanaTV (Korea)
- Imagenio (Spain)
- mioTV (Singapore)
- Neuf-tv (France)
- nowTV (HK)
- On Telecom (Greece)
- U-Verse (US)
- TeliaSonera (Sweden/Finland)
- Tiscali TV (UK)
- Trans TV (AUS)
- Viasat (Nordic/Baltic)
- and many more…
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