Market research firm SNL Kagan has compiled a database of 106 of the world’s largest video and broadband operators who, as of the end of 2012, served no fewer than 2 million video subscribers or 1 million fixed-line broadband subscribers.
The data shows that, geographically, China, India and the United States accounted for nearly half of the 106 top operators, with 27 entities based in China and 12 in India. The U.S. came third with 11 operators, followed by France, Germany, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico — each with five.
Comcast Corp., the American cable giant (based in Philadelphia), remained the world’s largest pay TV provider as of the end of 2012 with 22 million video subscribers. China Telecom was the top fixed broadband provider, reaching 90.1 million high-speed Internet customers.
On a regional level, China’s ongoing cable consolidation and India’s continued direct-to-home (DTH) service adoption has produced many top pay TV operators in the Asia Pacific region with gigantic subscriber bases. At the end of 2012, the top 10 Asia Pacific operators each served more than 10 million video subscribers and still are on track for further growth.
Strong DTH uptake has also taken place in Latin America, where top providers SKY Brasil, Sky Mexico and America Movil’s Claro made the most aggressive subscriber net additions in 2012 in the region.
In North America and Western Europe, telco providers are outpacing incumbent cable operators in terms of subscriber growth, with IPTV services from AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., France Telecom Group and Deutsche Telekom AG registering the most net additions, while cable giants such as Comcast Corp., Rogers Cable Inc., Kabel Deutschland GmbH and Numericable SAS continued to suffer subscriber loss.
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