IPTV Subs Top 21.8 Million

SAN JOSE: The number of IPTV subscribers worldwide has hit 21.8 million, a 63-percent increase on the 13.3 million recorded at the end of 2007, according to industry analysts Point Topic.

The data, released by Broadband Forum at today’s opening day of IPTV World Forum in London, shows that the North American IPTV market more than doubled to 3.8 million. Western Europe recorded a 47-percent increase to 10.4 million subscribers. Strong gains were also recorded in Latin America, where, while the market remains small, the base grew from 8,991 to 21,495 in the year. South and East Asia have 3.6 million IPTV subscribers, while the rest of the Asia Pacific has 3.1 million subscribers. In Eastern Europe, the subscriber base grew to 884,466 from 465,223.

The Broadband Forum expects steady IPTV gains as broadband penetration continues to rise. The world’s biggest broadband market is China with 83.4 million subscribers, followed by the U.S. with 79 million, Japan with 30.3 million, Germany with 23.4 million and France with 17.5 million. Rounding out the top ten are the U.K., South Korea, Italy, Brazil and Canada.