Asia to lead global IPTV revolution

Asia Pacific will lead the global revolution in IPTV in terms of subscribers, service revenue and infrastructure. The region's broadband penetration, supportive regulatory framework, will fuel the growth, according to the latest report from Research and Markets. The research firm also said that China is eyed to be the future IPTV dragon due to its rapid urbanisation, fast growing economy and expanding middle class.

In 2009, the worldwide IPTV service revenue is forecasted to reach Rs.1,75,598 crore ($38 billion). Moreover, the worldwide IPTV subscribers are forecasted to reach 5.3 crore in the year 2009. America and Western Europe are expected to be the biggest markets in terms of revenue per user basis.

In the report, the potential for IPTV market varies highly across the globe depending upon the local pay-TV market and regulatory conditions.

The United States will be a more difficult market for IPTV, said the report, due to high existing pay-TV penetration, and stiff price and service competition that is likely to come from the entrenched operators in the cable and satellite sectors.

As of yet, consumer familiarity with IPTV service is very low although the youth today are much more aware of it when compared with people belonging to other age groups, said in the report. Also, cost is not seen a principal barrier for IPTV adoption.