Monday, 21 January 2008

High Speed Modem Service Aiding Global Cable TV's Strong Growth

As the market for basic video services becomes ever more competitive, cable TV operators around the world are now relying on cable modem services to generate new revenue streams...

As the market for basic video services becomes ever more competitive, cable TV operators around the world are now relying on cable modem services to generate new revenue streams, according to a new In-Stat research, "Cable TV Services: Worldwide Video and High-Speed Data Subscribers."

In fact, bundling video and data services is providing cable operators with a significant competitive advantage over their pay-TV service rivals, the high-tech market research firm says.

"Some markets, such as North America, are feeling the effects of increasing competition for video service subscribers," says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst.

"However, in other markets, demand for cable video services is growing at an almost exponential rate. China is a good example. In 2007, it added over 20 million cable TV subscriber households."

The research also found that:

- As of December 2007, total worldwide cable TV subscriber households numbered 408 million, an increase of 10% from December 2006.

- Worldwide cable modem subscribers recently hit 72 million.

- Ninety-one million cable TV households are now digital video subscribers, an increase of 41% over the previous year. The majority of these new subscribers came from China.