IP TV Global Market Report Forecasts 25 Million Subs by 2008

IP TV Global Market Report Forecasts 25 Million Subs by 2008

System Integration and Professional Services Added to Six-sector Forecast

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc) announces its new semi-annual IP TV Forecast, IP TV Global Forecast Update -- February 2005, as part of its year-round IP TV Tracking Service. Projecting growth from 1.9 million subscribers in 2004 to 25.3 million in 2008, for the first time the forecast includes System Integration & Professional Services as part of its global forecast. In addition to the 6 other product sectors broken down by region and country (IP TV Set-top boxes, Video Headends, VOD Servers, Middleware, Access Equipment, and Content Protection), the report also forecasts IP TV subscriber revenue growth from $635 million in 2004 to $7.2 billion in 2008, also broken down on regional and service-provider levels.

The forecast also identifies the "top ten" (or equivalent) regional service providers in each of four regions (Asia, Europe, North America and ROW), broken down by the seven product segments for 2004-2008. "This granular approach enables system and content suppliers a quick understanding of the service providers that dominate 60% or more of the regional sectors," states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst.

"Since our semi-annual forecasts are released periodically," states Gary Schultz, MRG President, "each new forecast helps our users and subscribers make mid-term corrections to their regional R&D and Marketing activities in this dynamic and fast-moving market." Regional changes revealed and analyzed include:

-- Plans by SBC and BellSouth to deploy large IP TV networks in the U.S.

-- Plans by Verizon to use IP TV technology for Video On Demand services to supplement its RF based broadband video service over its Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) access network.

-- Introduction of Video On Demand IP TV services by China Telecom. -- Broad deployment of IP TV services in many countries in Europe.

-- Continued growth of subscribers by the major established IP TV service providers, such as: Free in France, PCCW in Hong Kong, and FastWeb in Italy.

The new 60-page report is available for $5,200, which includes print and/or pdf (Departmental License) formats. For more information about this report or the IP TV Tracking Service, please contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or at 408-524-9767 (phone); or consult www.mrgco.com (website).

Source: Multimedia Research Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Rob Smith for Multimedia Research Group, Inc., +1-408-524-9767, or rsmith@mrgco.com

Web site: http://www.mrgco.com/

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