Ovum RHK has published the results of a 14-country independent assessment of broadband deployments and service drivers in the Asia-Pacific region, with a specific focus on fiber-to-the-x (FTTx).
The result was based on interviews with major carriers in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, the study addresses fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the-building (FTTB), digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modem termination system (CMTS), and wireless initiatives throughout the region. It was conducted jointly by Ovum RHK and the APAC FTTH Council.
“Ovum believes there will be over 195 million broadband subscribers in Asia-Pacific by the end of 2010,” said Lynn Hutcheson, Vice President, Communication Components at Ovum RHK. “Many operators indicated that content services were going to be a key component of their offerings. However, there are vast differences as to how each country regulates IPTV and content delivery over telecom infrastructures.”
I was able to correspond with David Kennedy, Ovum's Research Director (Telecoms - Asia Pacific) and got the following as well:
- There were 98 million broadband subscribers in Asia-Pacific region (including China and India) in December 2006.
- There were a total of 1.5 million IPTV services in the Asia Pacific in December 2006. This is lower than In-Stat's estimate of 2.7 million IPTV 2006 subscribers. This is probably due to differences in the definition of IPTV and markets included in their respective definition of the region.
- By IPTV, Ovum refers to ‘paid for’ television services offered to consumers by telecom operators and ISPs. According to Kennedy, "These services are usually provided using IPTV technology, but we use the term more widely to include services provided by those above using other technologies such as digital terrestrial television and satellite, often as a hybrid solution. They are sold as part of a bundled offering (typically including broadband access and fixed line telephony), or as a standalone service."
- Ovum excludes television services provided over the public Internet, often known as Internet or Web TV. They also exclude television services supplied by cable operators, satellite broadcasters, free-to-air digital television broadcasters, and free-to-air analogue television broadcasters.They also exclude video on-demand (VoD) services provided by telecom operators and others.
- Ovum projects 17.3 million IPTV subscribers in the region by December 2010.
