Asia anticipates better IPTV days

IPTV watchers in the Asia-Pacific region apparently are not too happy with what they perceive as slow adoption in those markets. A story at Asia Pacific Broadcasting shows some weak subscriber numbers from the region for linear IPTV services, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan. PCCW of Hong Kong, which last week gained approval for a controversial privatization, had 882,000 subscribers as of December. Hanaro Telecom of South Korea had 807,000, and fast-rising China Telecom had 565,000.

PCCW's number sounds impressive, but the IPTV pioneer has certainly seen its growth slow the last couple of years within its limited market reach, and its customer base is pretty small compared with European market leader France Telecom's of 2.3 million subscribers, and U.S. telco TV market leader Verizon Communications's of 2.1 million or so.

China Netcom also joins China Telecom among the top five providers in the region, as China's market continues to show great promise. The story suggests that regulatory hurdles and business case shortcomings are to blame for the slow adoption.

For more:
- Asia Pacific Broadcasting has this story

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