IPTV Subscriptions Approach 20 Million Worldwide, Study Says

IPTV (News - Alert) subscribers worldwide jumped to 19.96 million at the end of 2008, according to figures released from British research firm Informa Telecoms & Media.

 

According to the researcher, fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) connections reached 48 million in 2008, an increase of 11 million new subscribers in a span of 12 months.

 

FTTx is a generic term for any network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual copper local loop used for telecommunications.

 

When 2008 drew to close, global fixed broadband subscriptions stood at 422 million, adding nearly 68 million subscriptions over the previous year, and 16 million in the final quarter of 2008, according to the study.

The biggest access technology remained DSL with 65 percent of the total. However, FTTx registered its biggest gains to date, adding over 11 million subscriptions - almost exactly the same number as cable broadband (21 percent). It now stands over 48 million.

For FTTx, the growth is coming from Asia-Pacific, home to nine of the world's 10 largest FTTx operators. This region recorded a 20 percent increase in subscription to FTTx compared to last year.

 

Western Europe meanwhile has seen broadband growth stagnate, as all but five of its 30 countries now exceed a household penetration level of 50 percent and 20 countries enjoy penetration of over 60 percent.

 

In China, broadband subscriptions grew by 21 percent to reach 82 million subscriptions. The country overtook United States to emerge as the largest fixed broadband market. China’s household penetration level is below 20 percent.

The study shows IPTV and digital terrestrial (DTT) are increasing their share of the market and now hold 10 percent and 3 percent of the global market, respectively.

"It is a fair observation that IPTV has not made the sort of inroads into broadband homes which operators might have expected, but it is wrong to declare that the concept is doomed to fail,” said Julian Herbert, a principal analyst at Informa (News - Alert).

 

Telecom operators like AT&T, France Telecom, PWCC and Portugal Telecom (News - Alert) are in the forefront to expand their footprint in the global IPTV market, according to the report.

 
The research report will be presented in an opening address at the IPTV World Forum scheduled to take place at Olympia, London this week.