IPTV Subscribers Top 15 Million Worldwide

The number of IPTV subscribers worldwide increased 53% in the 12 months that ended March 31, to reach 15.4 million, according to a report from the Broadband Forum industry consortium.


The report, prepared for the Broadband Forum (formerly the DSL Forum) by industry research firm Point Topic, found that DSL-based access technologies are the predominant means of delivering IPTV. 


The leading technology delivering IPTV today is ADSL2plus, with 12.0 million IPTV subscribers. However, the report also found that fiber-to-the-home subscriptions have risen by 33% since the beginning of 2007, with more 10 million people connected to a fiber network.



Europe accounts for more than 8.4 million IPTV subscribers, making it the strongest market in terms of growth and total subscriber numbers.


Asia-Pacific 2.6 million, followed by North America with 2.3 million and South and East Asia with 1.4 million.


"IPTV operators around the world have shown that systems are scalable and can handle rapid growth in subscriber numbers," Point Topic senior analyst John Bosnell said. "However, developing and agreeing standards will help these operators deliver IPTV more simply and effectively over a variety of access technologies and help to drive higher up take in other markets."