Internet TV Subscribers to Rise by More Than 50 Percent in 2009

The global Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) market withstood the worst of the worldwide economic storm during the last six months, putting it on track to achieve more than 50 percent subscriber growth in 2009, according to iSuppli Corp.

In the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, IPTV added 2.5 million and 2.3 million subscribers worldwide, respectively. Global IPTV subscribers are set to rise to 33.3 million subscribers at the end of 2009, up 56 percent from 21.3 million in 2008.

“With the economy in the dumps and revenue growth from voice services having evaporated, global telcos are turning to IPTV to drive their growth,” said Lee Ratliff, senior analyst for broadband and digital home at iSuppli. “The good news is that this strategy is paying off, with IPTV subscribers and revenue rising.”

In 2010, IPTV subscribers will rise another 56 percent to reach 52 million. By 2013, the number of subscribers will double, reaching 115.6 million.

“With the huge numbers of subscribers signing on during the next five years, telcos are rapidly gearing up for IPTV and triple-play services, as well as working on how they can make them more attractive to current and future subscribers,” Ratliff added.

IPTV revenue is growing even faster than subscribers thanks to increasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Revenues are expected to increase to $58.2 billion by 2013, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 44.4 percent from just $9.3 billion in 2008.

Regional Growth Untapped

At the end of the first quarter of 2009, nearly half of global IPTV subscribers, or 49 percent, were located in Europe. Other regions, including North America and Asia/Pacific, are relatively far along in their IPTV deployment, but the subscriber growth opportunity is huge because these regions–including Europe–have an IPTV penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base of less than 15 percent. This means there are ample opportunities for telcos to expand their business for the next five years and beyond.

But the next great IPTV frontier may be in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, India, Russia and Latin America, where IPTV’s penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base is less than 1 percent. These regions will be slower to ramp up their subscribers due to limited broadband infrastructures and, in some case, regulatory issues.

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