IPTV subscribers now total some 45 million, reports Telegeography, with telcos achieving a 10% penetration rate. TeleGeography says more than 40 telecos launched IPTV in 2010, bringing the number of IPTV services to more than 200.
The number of IPTV subscribers globally grew 38% in 2010, reaching 45 million. Subscribers grew 9% in Q4, a slight increase from growth rates experienced in the previous three quarters.
‘In aggregate, telcos around the world have succeeded in selling IPTV services to over 10% of their broadband internet customer base,’ said TeleGeography’s John Dinsdale. ‘With some 90% of the broadband base left to be targeted, clearly there is room for substantial IPTV growth.
Western Europe remains the largest IPTV market, accounting for 40% of global subscribers in 2010. The Asia Pacific region is the second largest IPTV market, accounting for 35% of subscribers. However, the number of IPTV subscribers in the Asia-Pac region is growing more than twice as rapidly as in Western Europe and will take the top slot before the end of 2011. France remains the leading country for IPTV (23% of the global total), followed by China (16%), the US (16%), South Korea (8%) and Japan (4%).
The United States has been an IPTV holdout, with the exception of AT&T’s U-verse service. In 2009, U-verse had 2 million customers. U-verse is available to 20 million living units in 22 states.
With the addition of overage fees by landline internet service providers, the dominance of cable and satellite television may continue.
