IPTV take-up in mainland China will exceed 23 Million subscribers by 2012, according to a new report from ABI Research.
ABI says that technological innovations are rapidly redrawing the Chinese telco landscape, with operators compelled to diversify in order to thrive in the competitive environment.
The November 2006 announcement of Jiangsu Telecom’s network expansion effort to meet subscribers’ demand for IPTV, VOD, and other advanced IP services was just the latest in a similar series of moves to support multi-play service offerings.
Serene Fong, ABI Research broadband research analyst, said: “More operators than ever are offering multiple services in an attempt to retain customers and to increase revenue. Telecom operators are venturing into the TV industry, while cable operators move into the voice business.”
IPTV is the Chinese government’s platform of choice because it is aligned to its long-term plan of unifying broadband, internet, and television. Hence the future of the industry continues to be viewed optimistically. More resources will also be allocated to making IPTV a success because it is to play an important role in multimedia communications and upcoming major events in China.
Fong added: “The growth of IPTV will remain modest for now, and take off only after 2008. Adoption will be boosted by major events such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and then the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.”
However, Fong said that there are some barriers to IPTV takeup: “While the IPTV service is regarded by the industry as a potential revenue generator, lack of content may prove a short-term barrier to increasing uptake rapidly.
“Current program content, which is strictly controlled by media authorities and the government, is not rich enough to attract paying users, and overseas content, which is restricted and difficult to get approval for, does not help alleviate the situation.”
Recent research from Point Topic showed that IPTV subscriber numbers doubled during the 12 months to June 30 2006, with the total number of people worldwide paying for TV services supplied via Internet Protocol (IP) increasing from just under 1.5 million to almost 3 million (see IPTV Subscriber Numbers Double).
Meanwhile, MRG forecast that there will be 50.5 million IPTV subscribers by the end of 2010, with global IPTV revenue of $16.7 billion by that time (see Over 50 Million IPTV Subscribers By 2010).
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