A recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan, titled `Asia Pacific IPTV Market', estimates the IPTV market in Asia Pacific, covering 12 countries except Japan, is likely to increase from $353.4 million in 2006 to $512.4 million next year. The analysis attributes the upward trend to falling wireline revenues, increasing consumer demand for greater control over viewing preferences and the growth of broadband in various high-growth markets across the region.
According to the Frost & Sullivan analysis, the APAC IPTV market, growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 37.5 per cent (2006-2013), is forecasted to be worth $3.3 billion by end-2013.

IPTV is the next notable wave in the consumer telecom space and service providers are planning to leverage this new technology to offer high-quality interactive services to customers. While revenues from fixed-line services continue to decline, IPTV is likely to reduce churn, increase ARPU (average revenue per user) levels, and generate revenue streams in the long term.  

Frost & Sullivan further also says that while service providers across Asia Pacific have invested heavily in the network infrastructure required to offer IPTV services, the key success factor for IPTV lies in the gamut of content that service providers are able to provide consumers.

IPTV is presently available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007. Countries like China, India and Australia are expected to be high growth IPTV markets by 2009. there are some companies that have already teamed up with service providers in the Indian region in order to provide IPTV capability for the country's huge population.

However, on the other hand the lack of sufficient bandwidth and highly skewed broadband distribution are major inhibitors for the growth of IPTV in Asia-Pacific. While Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Japan are mature markets for broadband, developing markets like China, India and Malaysia have dismally low broadband penetration.
 
The Indian scenario!

Imagine lakhs of television channels to choose from, instead of a little more than a hundred now. Imagine a world when you would not worry about the programme schedules and instead watch a programme at your chosen time rather than as determined by a television channel!

These and other things are possible when the next revolution on the television horizon-the Internet Protocol Television or IPTV as it is more commonly known as, enters our homes. IPTV-simply put is a system where a digital television service is delivered to consumers using the Internet over a broadband connection capable of delivering 1.5-2 Mbps of data.

Is India ready for it? IPTV technology is gaining tremendous industry momentum and aggressive deployment among service providers worldwide and in India. IP-TV offers a win-win situation for both the operator and the customer, India, a major IP video networks solution provider. The entertainment industry is a well-established industry in India with television, movies, etc. gaining broad acceptance and viewership countrywide.  

Delivering entertainment content over broadband networks (IPTV) will truly empower the user to gain control of their content according to the times pre-set by them. According a study done by ABI Research, total subscribers for IPTV may exceed 120 million by 2010 with Asia Pacific constituting roughly 47 per cent of the total subscribers worldwide. And China and India are seen as major markets.

From the consumer's perspective, IP-TV allows the user to experience digital quality television with the added advantage of being a 'pay per view' - service. Consumers can access services such as Video on Demand, Interactive TV, recorded content stored on the service providers' remote servers and other spin offs. The three parameters of comfort, cost and quality are taken care off.

From the service provider's point of view, they can effectively utilize the opportunity to add onto their revenue stream.

With Average revenue per user (ARPU) for fixed line telephony service falling every year, telecoms want to provide additional value-added services to their customers. Operators and content providers are coming together to deliver value added services, but the industry is still evolving standards in India. That the hype about IPTV is not understated can be gauged from the fact that all the major players have jumped on to the bandwagon.

This was evident at recently held International Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas, US. While Google and Yahoo have announced plans to offer video platforms in a big way, Microsoft has launched a IPTV Edition, which is an integrated software platform developed specifically to deliver broadcast-quality video and new, integrated TV services over broadband networks. In fact IPTV is seen as a mantra to combine Voice, Data, and Video Service for a price that is less than the price of the individual services- called the triple play service.  

Where is the bandwith in India to roll out services that requires very high speed rates? All major service providers are investing in advanced IP based Next Generation Networks (IP-NGN's) and will have the necessary infrastructure to support multiple broadband services, including IPTV.
 
It is for sure that IPTV will be a key service in the triple play service. Fibre connectivity in the last mile has not come in a big way in India, but once it does, there will be a major push for value added services by the telecom operators.