IPTV Will Struggle To Make Its Mark In India

Gartner has said that Internet Protocol television (IPTV) will face a raft of problems that will hold it back for at least five years, foremost being the low base of broadband connections to households. Despite being a more advanced technology capable of additional functionality, IPTV is not well placed in India when compared against other digital broadcast distribution channels such as direct-to-home (DTH) satellite and digital cable.

Neha Gupta, senior research analyst, Gartner says, “The primary reason for minimal IPTV uptake is the low broadband penetration in India. Without a mass-market broadband usage in place, the Indian IPTV subscriber base will struggle to exceed 1 million in the next four years.”

The Indian government has set aggressive targets for increasing broadband coverage, but even with strong growth, the penetration will stay low for the next five years. In 2006, the size of the consumer broadband market in India stood at 1.6 million lines and is expected to grow to 6.4 million by 2011.

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“India’s broadband penetration problems are unlikely to be resolved without the use of wireless broadband, either WiMAX or high-speed mobile services such as High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),” said Gupta. “While they will enable a better Internet surfing experience, we do not consider these as access technologies ready to deliver high-quality IP broadcast video to the TV set in the home.”

Gupta recommends, “Carriers should consider moving into DTH satellite to help secure customers who can later be converted to IPTV or offered interactive services through a hybrid DTH-IP broadband STB. Alternatively, carriers could partner with DTH operators to offer customers a hybrid STB capable of accessing DTH for channels and using broadband for video on demand (VOD) interactivity. The hybrid model offers an inexpensive route to triple play, while providing extra revenue through cross-selling pay-TV to broadband and voice customers. Such partnerships have collectively added around 1.5 million subscribers in the USA, and we envision a similar success in India.”