TMCnet News
Study Predicts that IPTV is About to ExplodeTMCnet Associate Editor A new report by Infonetics Research paints a rosy picture for the future of IPTV (News - Alert).
According to the market research company’s “IPTV Equipment, Services, and Subscribers” report, equipment sales, service revenue, subscribers, and service provider capital expenditures all increased dramatically between 2004 and 2005, and are expected to explode by 2009. The report predicts that the number of IPTV subscribers worldwide will swell to 53 million by 2009. By that year, $26 billion of service provider capex will be spent on IPTV infrastructure. Worldwide IPTV equipment revenue will surge to $6 billion, and service revenue will jump to $38 billion. According to the report, broadband providers with DSL and FTTH services account for the bulk of IPTV service revenue now, but cable broadband providers will also migrate to all-IP triple-play services in the next few years, and offer wireless services as well. “Service providers expect huge returns from IPTV, and they are investing heavily in IPTV infrastructure to ensure those returns,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for IPTV at Infonetics Research, in a press release. “Right now they’re focused on transport infrastructure, upgrading their access networks with higher-bandwidth ADSL2+, VDSL2, and FTTH platforms, and adding IP edge routers and Ethernet routers and switches to handle the expected traffic demands of the escalating numbers of IPTV subscribers. Over the next four years, though, their investments will shift a bit to content infrastructure, so they’ll spend more on things like video on demand servers, encoders, content security platforms, and headend equipment.” To access a copy of the report, visit www.infonetics.com. ------ Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard¹s columnist page. |