Over 3 Million IPTV Subscribers in Japan by 2012

TOKYO — In the latest ROA Group report titled Japan IPTV Market Outlook, ROA Group projects that the number of IPTV subscribers in Japan will exceed 3 million by 2012, which is approximately 10% of FTTH subscribers, and the penetration rate of IPTV is expected to be 6%. It is estimated that the average growth rate will reach 65% from 2006 to 2012. Japan is an entry level market with estimated 400,000 IPTV subscribers in 2008, but the full-fledged use of the IPTV service will expand to the major cities across the country from 2009 and increase sharply in 2010, says Seong Ho Kim, analyst at ROA Group Japan.

Three companies are providing the IPTV services in Japan; Hikari TV from NTT Plara, Hikari One TV from KDDI and BBTV from BB Cable Corporation. However the specifications of STB (set-top box), which is the receiver of IPTV signals, are developed independently by the manufacturers and consequently a question regarding the compatibility is being raised. As a result, measures for standardization are being taken internationally at ITU. In Japan, the same movement is found in the domestic IPTV Forum. ROA Group’s Japan IPTV Market Outlook report examines the Japan IPTV service market conditions and trends. Based on the findings, Japanese IPTV market forecast is provided for 2008-2012.