Singapore-based ABI Research says its pay-TV market data indicates that global pay-TV subscribers will number more than 730 million by the end of 2011. North America has the highest subscriber penetration and should reach 115.4 million by the end of 2011.
“Telco TV subscribers will number 47 million by the end of 2011, with a CAGR of 22.5 percent over the next five years [2009-2014],” said Serene Fong, an analyst with ABI Research.
Western Europe has the highest telco TV penetration rate and continues to increase in subscriber numbers, especially in France, Italy and Germany. North America and Asia-Pacific regions are the second and third highest in telco TV penetration, respectively. The numbers of subscribers in those regions are forecast to exceed 9 million and 15 million respectively by the end of 2011.
Operators are extending telco TV services by deploying triple-play offerings in order to reduce customer churn rate and to increase ARPU. “The improvement of broadband access is one factor which helps to increase Telco TV subscriptions,” notes research associate Khin Sandi Lynn. “Other type of pay-TV platforms, satellite, cable and terrestrial are also found to be increasing, although at a slower rate.”
