DD 4:IPTV - A Look From The Outside - Part 4
The Future of IPTV
The forecast by market professionals is by the year 2007 there will be more than 200 million digital TV homes subscribers with 25% global market penetration. Worldwide subscribers to cable VOD (video on demand) services will increase from about 5 million at the end of 2003, to almost 14 million in 2007. Broadband penetration in the United States and Europe will grow from 25 million in 2002 to 290 million in 2008. By 2008, 20 million homes worldwide will subscribe to IPTV services.
What does this mean? Quite simply that IPTV is emerging and will available to you in just a few years if not sooner. For those businesses implementing IPTV it will provide a means of deploying interactive content and meetings unlike anything previously available on such a large scale. For the consumer it will provide a interactive experience unlike anything they have known as the technology evolves and becomes wide-spread. The cable companies providing both television broadcasting and broadband services will have new competition as the communication companies normally offering only broadband services will now be able to broadcast television and live video. The level of user interactivity will also increase as IPTV emerges and evolves - blending with technologies associated with internet access. Think of watching your favorite television and every program, movie, and advertisement will have hyperlinks for more information - while being able to send and receive email or text messages to friends and family.
Video-on-demand and two-way interactivity for applications such as home shopping, TV banking and gambling are already being deployed. This is not your MSN® TV services, but a whole new technology of the future!
