In a new report, ABI Research says that currently there are 13.5 million subscribers for IPTV services worldwide and predicts that number will grow to reach more than 90 million by the end of 2013.
Cesar Bachelet, a senior analyst at ABI commented, “The IPTV market as a whole is poised for strong growth but clearly it will be stronger in some areas than in others. We anticipate particularly substantial growth in North America and most emerging markets.”
Asia got a head start in IPTV when PCCW launched Now TV but, despite the service’s success in Hong Kong, the region still lags behind in terms of the number of IPTV subscribers – mainly as a result of seemingly intractable regulatory issues and low broadband penetration in key markets. However, ABI Research seems sure that that vigorous growth lies ahead as these issues are resolved.
In North America, until recently, only a handful of Canadian operators and smaller rural and regional operators in the US have offered IPTV services. Verizon and AT&T began to gain some ground in 2007 with their fibre deployments.
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