Internet protocol video services in the Asia Pacific are increasing in popularity and forecasted to rise by nearly 80% annually through 2010, with the market’s revenues predicted to reach $4.2 billion by 2010, according to a new report from In-Stat.
The new
Asia Pacific IP-Based Video Service Market Analysis expects China, Japan, Indian and South Korea to account for the majority of the region’s growth. The major IP-based video service providers leading the market in the region are shown to include Yahoo! BB, Korea Telecom, Chunghwa Telecom, PCCW, China Telecom, China Netcom, SingTel, and Atlas Interactive India.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Bryan Wang, In-Stat analyst said: “Increasing broadband penetration gives telcos the opportunity to leverage their investment in broadband networks while broadening their service offerings.”
He added: “But deployment, launch, and marketing strategy specifics are largely still on the drawing board for quite a few carriers.”
In-Stat attributes the strong growth in Asia Pacific to telecom companies being able to offer IPTV and VoD services freely in countries such as Japan and South Korea, while in China incumbent carriers have yet to obtain IPTV licences to provide such value-added video offerings.
The report also predicts “triple-play”, services comprising voice, video and data, to be the norm for most communication providers in the Asia Pacific.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, Dr Robert Pepper, senior managing director of global advanced technology policy at Cisco Systems claimed that the shift from analogue to digital was resulting in the technology world beginning to “blur” (see Technology World Converging To Internet Protocol).
Pepper argued that advances in broadband transmission have resulted in a convergence of media allowing broadband providers to offer users a triple play of services comprising voice, video and data.
The latest estimates from Informa Telecoms & Media forecast IPTV to reach 25.9 million subscribers globally by the end of 2010, up from just 2.7 million at the end of 2005 (see IPTV To Reach 25.9 Million By 2010).
The report, IPTV: A Global Analysis, claims that China will be the leading IPTV market, with 4.9 million subscribers by the end of 2010. The US is forecast to be in second place, with 3.4 million, while Hong Kong, the leading country in 2004 with 475,000 subscribers, will drop to eighth position by 2010, having been overtaken by the UK with 1.5 million.
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