Pay TV subscriptions in Western Europe are set to grow by 31% between 2005 and 2011, according to new research from Analysys.
Analysys also says that low penetration of premium services in many markets suggests room for continued ARPU growth, with incumbents rapidly joining the innovative companies that are already offering TV services.
However, it says that demand for bundled services so far remains unclear, with many telco triple-plays yielding disappointing adoption rates thus far. By the end of 2005, just 3% of Western European households subscribed to fixed telephony, broadband internet and pay-TV services from a single supplier.
In contrast, recent research from Motorola said that there is generally strong interest across Europe to deal with a single service provider for voice, internet and TV (see UK Lags Behind Rest Of Europe In Broadband Awareness And Adoption.).
Analysys says that competition in the multi-play market can be expected to be fierce, with new entrants to the field often employing aggressive pricing to differentiate themselves from the suppliers already offering their wares. It points out that both KPN in Holland and BSkyB in the UK offer sizeable discounts to subscribers, with little in the way of legacy revenues to protect. The effect of this is to deflate the market, leaving the major players looking at each other’s customer bases for growth.
The future of the multi-play market is expected by Analysys to depend upon growth opportunities in individual markets and the suppliers’ ability to address these opportunities.
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