Internet protocol tv has gotten a lot of press in the past year, with new systems arriving globally and with recently launched systems achieving strong subscriber growth. In the larger context of set-top-box (STB) shipments for multichannel pay TV services, IPTV will continue to claim a small portion of the overall market for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, IPTV is arguably the most advanced of the available platforms, translating into STBs that have greater functionality and therefore higher price tags. It will thus be an important market going forward. Though telcos logged numerous efforts to launch DSL-based multichannel video services throughout the 1990s, it was only when broadband Internet met digital subscriber line service to become IPTV that viable systems took off. Subscriptions have since grown into the millions as telcos worldwide-from large, tier-one private- or state-owned ventures to tier-three, rural, independent ones-have sought to leverage IPTV to maximize their broadband Internet infrastructure. Indeed, DTC estimates there were more than 12 million IPTV subscribers at year-end 2007, nearly double the number at the close of 2006. With several systems having achieved the million-subscriber mark, IPTV is now firmly established. DTC expects continued growth from IPTV, with subscribers forecast to reach more than 65 million by 2013.
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