Dittberner: U.S. may be in IPTV Top 10 after all

One week after reporting that the United States is not among the 10 countries with the most IPTV subscribers, research and consulting firm Dittberner admitted that the U.S. may be in the top 10 after all.

In a press release issued last week, Dittberner claimed France was the world’s leading IPTV nation, with 896,000 paying subscribers. Sweden was 10th on the list, with 45,000, and the U.S. was “noticeably absent,” Dittberner said, with only 42,000.

The report drew skepticism from IPTV providers and suppliers alike. Siemens alone, for example, (which acquired IPTV middleware vendor Myrio in 2005) claimed to have more than 45,000 U.S. IPTV customers--enough to tie Sweden for a spot on the list.

In response to Telephony’s query on the subject, Dittberner analyst James Heath today offered what he called a “mea culpa” for the limited scope of his data.

“We don’t dig down into tons of small service providers, which is where a lot of Myrio’s customers happen to be in the U.S.,” Heath said. “Would that put the U.S in the top ten? It might.”

In fact, if the customers of small service providers were all added to the tally, he said, the U.S. might have as many as 120,000 paying IPTV subscribers, which would put it sixth on the top 10 list--below Holland but above Belgium.

Heath felt more confident using the smaller number, 42,000, because it was more easily verifiable. Many smaller service providers were reluctant to divulge their subscriber numbers, he said. “I didn’t go through all 2000 [independent operating carriers] to find out the answer. It was hard to get the smaller guys to really commit to what they were doing.”

In last week’s release, Dittberner predicted the U.S. would remain a global IPTV laggard “for some time…because of the strong competition from the cable TV operators, as well as the inadequate infrastructure.”

The U.S.’s global IPTV standing could also change significantly if AT&T accomplishes its objectives in the space, Heath conceded. Having launched IPTV service in 11 markets by the end of last year, the company expects to pass 19 million residences by the end of 2008. However, Heath is pessimistic about AT&T’s plans, citing the difficulty of winning customers as the third entrant in a market, behind cable and satellite providers.