IPTV to hit its stride in 2008

The market for IPTV will reach 21.7 million subscribers in 2009, though most of those will be in Asia and Europe, according to recent research from Parks Associates. Additionally, despite big projects launching this year and next from the likes of SBC and Verizon, the market won’t begin taking off until 2008.

Perhaps most important to telcos is the ability to target the right consumer segments. In its study of consumer viewing habits and their potential to accept IPTV services as part of a quadruple play bundle, Parks found that telcos will have multiple choices—all of which have potential—in deciding on strategy.

The study divided consumers into four segments: the TV on My Terms group; the Interact With Me group; the Converge Me segment; and the Do Not Bother Me group.

“We can not have a general model in the United States,” said Deepa Iyer, research analyst for Parks Associates. “We have to give them the options and allow them to pick and choose.”

The Converge Me group, for instance, would be most receptive to services such as the ability to upload photos and send them to friends via their TVs. It’s also the only segment that is predominantly female. Conversely, the Interact With Me segment is more likely to accept interactive advertising and gaming services, Iyer said.

“The Converge Me’s and Don’t Bother Me’s are very limited in their choices,” she said. “They have very basic needs. [Interact With Me’s] do not want advertising to be a passive experience. They want more targeted advertising and advertising that really addresses their needs.”

The goal for any telco should be to develop a unique set of services different from cable and satellite operators, but targetted to their specific markets. Overall, however, Iyer is predicting that telecom operators around the world will maintain around a 20% market share of the video market and that by the end of this year, IPTV subscribers will number only around 2 million worldwide.

“The takeoff point for IPTV is going to be in 2008,” Iyer said. “That is when the telecom operators are going to start seeing some revenue.”