Informa has suggested that the number of homes paying for IPTV services will more than double by the end of 2014 – with 70 million homes likely to be using the next generation service.
IPTV – television over an internet connection – is poised for a huge boom, especially in the UK where the BBC has been given a provisional go ahead to push on with its Project Canvas idea.
However, Informa's latest research into paid-for IPTV suggests that the Asia Pacific region will be the biggest growth market, with China pencilled in to provide 28 million homes.
More than double
"The global total of pay IPTV homes will more than double to 70 million by end-2014; up from 26 million at end-2009," said Informa's report. "Revenues will also climb steeply, from $4.6 billion £2.85bn) in 2009 to $12.2 [£7.6bn] billion in 2014
"However, only 5% of the world's TV households are forecast to subscribe to IPTV platforms by 2014. In fact, only 13 countries will have more than 1 million IPTV subs.
"This fairly limited penetration comes from having to migrate subscribers away from longer-established cable and DTH services, as well as the lesser impact of DTT."
"Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts 26 million IPTV households by end-2009, up 8 million in the year. Asia Pacific and Western Europe are responsible for 2.6 million and 2.4 million of the additions respectively, with North America adding 1.1 million. However, the global figure represents just 2% of TV households."
