IPTV predicted to grow 64 per cent

IPTV (Television over the internet) subscriptions will reach 19.6 million globally by the end of 2008, a rise of 64.1 per cent from 12 million last year, according to research from Gartner.

The company found that revenues for the market will be $4.5 billion (£2.5 billion) in 2008, an increase of 93.5 per cent from 2007, with the figure for 2012 expected to be $19 billion (£10.5 billion).

If the figures are accurate, then 1.1 per cent of households globally will have IPTV by the end of 2008, while the penetration by the end of 2012 will be 2.8 per cent.

"The biggest change since 2007 is the rapid advent of new entrants making inroads in consumer video consumption and placing greater demands on IPTV operators to innovate," said Elroy Jopling, research director at Gartner.

He added: "The video consumption field will become increasingly crowded."

IPTV was found to be most popular in Western Europe, forecast to be reaching 8.2 million by the end of the year and 18.8 million in 2012.

However, North America was forecast to be the biggest market for revenue, reaching $2 billion (£1.1 billion) this year and $8 billion (£4.4 billion) in 2012.