Worldwide IPTV service revenues are forecast to cross US$42.6 billion by 2014, reflecting a CAGR of 60.2% over the analysis period 2004-2014. Currently, United States and Europe are generating substantial service revenues, when compared to Asia-Pacific because of higher ARPU (average revenue per user) in these regions. The number of IPTV subscribers in worldwide market is projected to exceed 248 million by the end of 2014.

Currently, IPTV is regarded as an application that enables the triple-play combination of services. Telcos have grabbed the opportunity to move beyond the traditional markets of communication industry. Telcos and media companies together evolved what is known as the ICE market, a mix of information, communication, and entertainment. However, IPTV is yet to take off. There is also inadequate knowledge about the prevailing consumer experience with iPTV. Therefore IPTV, which is expected to be huge success across the world, is experiencing hurdles in its commercialization. IPTV services do not solely depend on the bandwidth availability, but, rather operators need to integrate end-to-end solutions for offering high-class video services through streaming technology.

Despite the odds, there are indications of a fast growth in IPTV infrastructure. It is anticipated that the capital expenditure on iPTV is set to increase more than 14 times by the end of 2010. Telcos are expanding with iPTV offerings as the technology is capable of offering never before interactive experience to viewers.

European market for IPTV is growing at a significant rate over the years. The upward trend is largely attributed to severe competition and rising customer demand. However, strong demand for IPTV in Asia and North America is likely to take some of the thunder of European iPTV services market in the coming years. Notwithstanding Asian competition, Europe is likely to continue its dominance on the global IPTV market through 2009, with Asia rapidly closing the gap.

China is emerging as the leading IPTV market owing to economic development, rapid urbanization, and growing middle-income group. In the years to come, the US is expected to be the most challenging market for iPTV because of high pay-TV penetration, intense competition among telcos, and rising service competition among satellite and cable operators. Although consumer awareness about IPTV is still low, market for IPTV services is growing at a significant rate driven by increasing preference from young adults. Cost is the major barrier for consumers to adopt IPTV in all the countries across the globe.

Despite several challenges, the global IPTV market is growing at a healthy rate and is likely to sustain similar growth in the years to come. Even though the rate of subscription growth is slow, the low incremental investments to deliver IPTV are making IPTV an attractive offering for conventional telephone companies. In the coming years, the development of service differentiation is likely to speed up the market penetration of IPTV and offer growth opportunities to service providers.

Major IPTV carriers/operators in the market include AT&T, Belgacom, Bell Canada Enterprise, British Telecom, China Telecom, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom, FastWeb TV, France Telecom, PCCW, Qwest Communications, Telecom Italia, and Verizon. Key IPTV vendors/system providers include Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, ECI Telecom, Entone, Envivio, Microsoft, Motorola, NEC Corporation, Orca Interactive, Sprint Nextel, Widevine Technologies, and Viaccess.

"Internet Protocol Television (IPTV): A Global Strategic Business Report", published by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, recent developments, mergers, acquisitions, profiles of major players and other strategic industry activities. Analysis is presented for major geographic markets such as US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, Russia, and Asia-Pacific. Analytics for the period 2004 through 2014 are provided in terms of number of subscribers, and annual service revenues.