IPTV market:
MRG found that the new IPTV market is already very active with some 62 vendors serving some 223 service providers, and serving some 2m subscribers. The market, however, is facing strong issues ranging from an excess of regulation to an abscense of regulation. For example in China, and in spite of IPTV technologies coming and the creation of China CATV (seen as prelude of convergence of telecom and broadcasting industries), there is a lack of laws and regulations to introduce IPTV (existing policy barrier). On the opposite side, the US are overruling video distribution. Verizon has found that current rules to deploy video services in the US, do not allow to go fast (Verizon missed its target to pass 1m homes with its FTTP network by the end of 2004). It currently needs to buy franchising rights in any municipality in which it plans to offer the service. So its CEO is now pressing authorities to rewrite laws, and appealed to broadcast industry for help in backing off state and local governments on franchising rules. A similar approach came from SBC, and was addressed to legislators and regulators. SBC urged them to avoid current rules to new entrants in the video services market. SBC is deploying its Project Lightspeed, a $4bn capital initiative to deploy fiber-to-the-x technologies to 18 million households within three years. SBC suggested that minimal regulation approach that has been applied to Voice over IP (VoIP) up to now, is also applied to Video over IP. Of course, it is not the position of MSOs. For Comcast "like services should be treated alike, and everyone should play by the same rules." It is funny to remember that this type of rationales was already used ten or fifteen years ago, but from the opposite side.
So the question is if video services are the same? What telcos are bringing new if not just streaming current video programs? They can build a specific offer, made of TV channels, video blogs, VOD, interactive TV and much more. MSOs can also switch to IP TV technology, but clearly they are in no rush. The race has started. Once again, the industry is tied to further FCC and Congress ruling.
In Europe, the situation is quite different. Some commercial services are already opened and some penetration progress has been made. About two dozen telcos have already successfully launched video TV over DSL. France seems a front runner in that domain.
The study forecasts some 26m IPTV subscribers worldwide by 2008.
