According to the latest research from Informa Telecoms & Media, the IPTV market continues to expand with global IPTV subscriptions reaching 29.7 million at the end of 2009, up from 19.4 million a year earlier.  In particular, IPTV has started to win significant share in several emerging markets and has made inroads into some developed mid-sized ones, albeit at a slow pace.

The number of quarterly net new subscriptions, or net additions, for broadband-based TV services from telecoms operators and ISPs reached a record high of 3.2 million in the last three months of last year. But just four countries accounted for nearly two-thirds of all IPTV subscriptions: France, the US, China and South Korea.

"IPTV still has a long way to go. The technology had only 5% of the multichannel-TV market and less than 2% penetration of the world's households, despite services being available in over 50 countries. In many markets, services have simply struggled to make progress against cable, satellite and terrestrial TV competition," comments Rob Gallagher, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

"But the potential for delivering broadband-based services to the TV should not be underestimated. Despite the low number of success stories for conventional IPTV, the underlying technology is increasingly being embraced by cable, satellite and terrestrial TV providers as well as Internet firms, media groups and consumer electronics manufacturers."

IPTV has gained significant share in markets where one or more competing forms of multichannel TV are absent or weak, such as Iceland (81.0%), Qatar (80.0%), Cyprus (67.0%), Slovenia (35.0%), Croatia (25.0%), Estonia (25.0%), Montenegro (23.5%) and Greece (23.5%). Services also began to take the majority of net additions in some more competitive mid-sized markets in 2009, including Switzerland, Belgium, Singapore and Portugal.

This year's IPTV World Forum in London will bring together the IPTV industry to discuss how the technology can increase its share of the market and the opportunities it presents to players from across the technology market spectrum. For more information please visit http://www.iptv-forum.com

For more information, please contact:

Denise Duffy

PR Manager, Informa Telecoms & Media

Mob   +44 (0) 7500 330826 

Email: denise.duffy@informa.com

Twitter: @informatm_pr

About Informa Telecoms & Media

Informa Telecoms & Media (www.informatm.com) delivers strategic insight founded on global market data and primary research. We work in partnership with our clients, informing their decision-making with practical services supported by analysts.

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Informa Telecoms & Media (ITM) conducts primary and secondary research on the latest trends impacting the mobile communications, fixed communications and TV sectors, on a global basis. ITM's market intelligence services  - World Cellular Information Service (WCIS), World Broadband Information Service (WBIS) and the Intelligence Centre - give clients access to market forecasts and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as detailed analysis and exploration of trends.  These comprehensive and reliable data sources combined with access to a team of dedicated analysts provide clients with essential business tools to assist in their strategic and tactical decision making processes.

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