The success of IPTV services in Western Europe varies from country to country, depending on a wide variety of factors, according to a new study from IDC.
Some of those factors include the penetration of existing pay TV services, the degree of competition among broadband providers and how committed competitors are to making the investments needed to upgrade networks and develop content for top-notch IPTV services.
In “Western European IPTV Forecast 2004–2009,” IDC researchers found that less than 1 percent of Western European households subscribed to IPTV services last year and that the market value of such services was $62 million. The market will explode over the next five years, from $262 million in 2005 to $2.5 billion in 2009 when 6 percent of Western European households will subscribe to IPTV services.
By 2009, IDC expects that all European incumbents and a large portion of the major alternative tier two providers will offer IPTV services. DSL will be the most widely used platform for the service, though a minority of households in a few countries will receive IPTV services over metro Ethernet connections.
France, Italy and Spain will be the largest IPTV markets in Europe by 2009, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total market. Other countries expected to experience strong growth in IPTV services over the next five years are the Benelux and Nordic countries.
For more information, visit www.idc.com.
