MHP is a proposed standard for developing interactive applications within digital television systems. The first MHP services are being launched in Finland and Korea, and many more are planned for the coming months and years.
Strategy Analytics identifies a number of obstacles to the rapid success of MHP, these include technology costs and the reluctance of digital TV operators. These obstacles will mean a slow start for MHP, which is forecast to reach only 8% of total digital deployments worldwide by 2005.
By 2005 however, Strategy Analytics forecasts that MHP will have gained sufficient momentum to become a dominant global platform adaptable to different regions. The research predicts that by 2008, there will be 178 million MHP set-top boxes deployed around the world with North America making up around 17% of these homes.
“MHP will not turn interactive television into an open, horizontal market, as many hope,” says Nick Griffiths, director of the Strategy Analytics Broadband Entertainment Strategies service. “But it will lead to increased efficiencies across the advanced television value chain, benefiting most players to some extent.”
Strategy Analytics further predicts that that cable will be the dominant MHP platform, accounting for over 60% of the market by 2008. Satellite will have a 27% share.
