Global IPTV deployments todate would suggest that a half-hearted approach to IPTV services has not been effective. Many service providers feel the urge to launch IPTV services as a defensive strategy to increase their “n-play” offerings with one more service.

Frost & Sullivan research analyst Adeel Najam believes that IPTV requires a full-throttle implementation to really take-off. “As the broadcasting and pay-TV industry is uncharted territory for most telecom players, telcos will need to penetrate the market with an offensive approach, complete with a content acquisition strategy, to successfully attract cable or satellite TV subscribers,” he says.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (communicationservices.frost.com), IPTV Business Case, reveals that the IPTV subscriber base in Asia-Pacific – covering 13 countries – reached 4.1 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach 22.4 million by end-2013, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 32.7 percent (2007-2013).

Of the 13 countries, eight had commercial IPTV services in 2007, while the rest are conducting trials for expected deployments from 2009 onwards.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides service providers, vendors/manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Asia-Pacific IPTV services market, then send an email to Sarah Lourdes at sarah.lourdes[.]frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, fax number, and email address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by email.

Asia-Pacific accounted for about a third of the global IPTV subscriber base last year. Apart from South Korea which does not have true IPTV service, the top two Asia-Pac countries by subscribers as at end-2007 are Hong Kong with 24.9 percent (1.02 million subscribers) of the region’s IPTV subscriber base and China with 22.7 percent (0.93 million).

Hong Kong has the highest household IPTV penetration rate at 45.3 percent, and is the only market where IPTV dominates the pay-TV industry with a 46.7 percent subscriber market share in 2007 through its incumbent PCCW. Cable TV controls 41 percent of Hong Kong’s 2.18 million pay-TV subscriber market, while satellite DTH (direct-to-home) services hold the remaining 12.3 percent.