Released on = June 6, 2007, 6:10 am

Press Release Author = InfoCom

Industry = Telecommunications

Press Release Summary = Stuttgart, Germany - 6th June 2007 - At the end of 2006,
Europe held the largest IPTV market share. For the four largest continental
countries, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the number of IPTV users in 2005 has
doubled to some 1.65 million at the end of 2006.

Press Release Body = Stuttgart, Germany - 6th June 2007 - At the end of 2006 (see
Fig. 1), Europe held the largest IPTV market share. For the four largest continental
countries, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the number of IPTV users in 2005 has
doubled to some 1.65 million at the end of 2006. But that still accounts for less
than 2% of the total TV watchers in those countries. Yet even with a limited
subscriber base, IPTV is indeed the fastest growing TV platform among the existing
legacy platforms, such as CaTV and satellite. Terrestrial television is without a
doubt increasing, driven by digital services (DTT), which are gaining momentum all
over Europe. Whereas, the already established traditional TV platforms are somehow
suffering from competition with these new services. Other European countries where
IPTV has been launched - Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK -
account for some 550 000 IPTV users at the end of 2006, which brings the total
number of subscribers in Europe to about 2.2 million. By the end of 2007, it could
be expected that the number of IPTV users reach some 4.5 million.

The largest IPTV market is indeed France - accounting for over 60% of the subscriber
base among the four countries - where a specific competitive situation has been
pushing broadband services with high speeds and advanced applications. In France,
IPTV has already started as early as 2003 and evolved to about 1 million subscribers
at the end of 2006. A figure that could top to some 1.6 million subscribers by the
end of 2007. The second largest market is Spain, accounting for some 450 000
subscribers at the end of 2006, projected to soar to about 1 million by the end of
2007. In Germany, the IPTV market is very sluggish due to the absence of competitive
price offers - if excluding Telecom Italia's Hanse-net, with limited offer only to
some northern cities - with the only local incumbent Deutsche Telekom marketing
nationwide, a quite expensive triple play offer. Optimistically, the German IPTV
market could represent some 700 000 subscribers by end-2007, more likely some 250
000. In Italy, there is a typical situation of "much-ado-about-nothing", where
despite large titles in the press and a lot of talking about the most advanced
carriers in Europe, Fastweb, the number of IPTV subscribers remains limited to about
200 000 at the end of 2006, a number that could be set to double by the end of 2007.
Seeing these figures, IPTV is after all, a very niche product, although the
potential of IPTV should be seen in relation to broadband connections and
penetration. At the end of 2006, on 42.5 million broadband connections in the four
markets, IPTV users represented only 4% of all broadband subscribers. By the end of
2007, with over 47 million broadband subscribers expected, IPTV users could double
its share to about 8%.

Please visit http://www.infocom-de.com/pressarchives/press_060607.html to see the
graph.
Fig. 1- TV watchers and broadband subscribers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain
(2004-2007, million)

About InfoCom
InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with almost 20 years experience
providing strategic analyses and planning assistance to stakeholders in the
telecommunications, IT and multimedia industries. InfoCom's independent and
fact-based analyses highlight trends and opportunities, supporting decision makers
to understand market dynamics in order to improve their competitive advantage.
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