IPTV Subscribers Near 42 Million

 By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor

Close to 42 million users now subscribe to Internet protocol television (IPTV) throughout the world, according to a recent study. And changes could be looming in the sector.

The Broadband Forum recently announced that the number of global IPTV subscribers was 41,892,171. That’s a 7.3 percent quarterly increase, and represents 36.7 percent growth during the last 12 months.

“IPTV has grown solidly in the last 12 months. Perhaps more importantly the number of markets and operators offering IPTV (News  - Alert) is increasing as high-speed broadband spreads around the world,” John Bosnell, senior analyst at Point Topic, which conducted the study, said in a company statement. “With TV being increasingly routed over IP networks, the broadband connection is becoming an increasingly significant channel for video delivery.”

“As a tool for customer retention, as a prime mechanism for increasing ARPU, and as a means of providing a distinctive offering to the competition, the bundling of IPTV with a broadband subscription and voice is very attractive to ISPs,” he added.

The study also points out that Europe has a 46 percent market share, making it the top IPTV region in the world. China is “catching up” to France, the study said. The current leader of IPTV subscribers is France. But given current rates of growth, China will surpass France in 2011. That will also increase the market share of Asia.

In a related story, the Wall Street Journal reported that television in Europe is on the verge of a major change.

“European countries such as the U.K and France were early pioneers in delivering basic television programming over broadband in … IPTV. For that reason, there are nearly twice as many paying IPTV subscribers in Europe compared with the U.S…. But unlike the U.S., where well-known brands such as Apple (News  - Alert), Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., and Netflix, Inc., have already consolidated a large amount of movies, music and other media on the Web and brought them to the TV, the European market for content distribution is still fairly fragmented, in part because of cultural and language differences.”

But several companies are promoting offerings that bring video, content and services to the TV using the Web, the Journal said.

For example, Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics introduced Internet-connected TVs in several nations in Europe during November, The Journal said. Last month, Amazon acquired Lovefilm International, which has been called "the Netflix of Europe," The Journal said. And Nokia (News  - Alert) invested $8 million in Voddler Group AB, a video-on-demand service for the Scandinavian region.

These new service could become significant rivals to the more traditional IPTV triple play deals offered by companies such as France Télécom SA and Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG (News - Alert), according to The Journal.

"If there is another pay-TV service that offers better cooperation with the Web, then customers may go for it. It's all about content," Fernando Elizalde, an analyst with Gartner, told The Journal.

In addition, IPTV revenue in Western Europe nearly doubled to 2.34 billion Euros (US $3.18 billion) in 2009 from 1.16 billion Euros in 2008, The Journal said, citing data from Gartner.

In other IPTV news, Billion has unveiled an IPTV-ready router, the BiPAC 7700N, for $89.95, reports TMCnet.

Ed Silverstein is a TMCnet contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit hiscolumnist page.