IPTV Set For Growth, China To Lead

By Greg Galitzine

According to a report coming from DigitalMediaAsia this morning, IPTV is poised for tremendous growth. Not surprisingly, China is predicted to be the runaway leader with nearly 5 million subscribers expected by 2010.

And, according to Telecom Web, Hong Kong telco PCCW profits recently soared by over 40 percent,  because of the carriers’ leading edge deployment of IPTV. In June of this year, PCCW’s now TV had over 440,000 subscribers, up 22 percent from 361,000 at the end of last year. It competes in the Hong Kong pay-TV market against operators such as i-Cable Communications, the leading cable operator in Hong Kong. Its success in the IPTV arena has shown the way for telcos worldwide as they begin deploying IPTV services and competing against satellite and cable pay-TV alternatives.

The DigitalMediaAsia report goes on to say that the rapid growth in Internet protocol television (IPTV) over the next few years is to see subscriber numbers at end-2010 reach around ten times the 2005 figure. According to a report from market research firm Informa Telecoms & Media, which has studied some 50 countries, by the end of this year there will be just 2.7m IPTV subscribers globally, but that this number is expected to reach 25.9m by end-2010.


Looking ahead, China will be the leading IPTV market, with 4.9m subscribers forecast by end-2010, with the U.S. in second place with 3.4m. Hong Kong, the leading country in 2004 (with 475,000) will drop to 8th position by 2010, having been overtaken by the UK with 1.5m.

The top five Western Europe IPTV markets in 2010 will be France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain.

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