Press And Media

New research from TCL finds that 84 per cent of the 56 IPTV service providers surveyed offer a combination of basic plans and additional subscription packages

London 25 March 2011. Tariff Consultancy Ltd (TCL) assesses the pricing models adopted by IPTV services providers in a unique study published today. Called IPTV Pricing Trends 2011, this new report evaluates 56 operators' pricing of their IPTV offerings.

The growth of IPTV has been triggered by the growth of broadband subscriptions, higher transmission speeds, the increasing demand for new digital content, improved compression technologies, intensified competition through bundles and the subsequent use of the service as an ARPU generator to compensate for falling ARPUs in long-established products such as fixed-telephony or broadband internet.

TCL’s survey of key global IPTV providers shows a 33 per cent increase in average subscriber numbers, with 75 per cent of users concentrated in the 3 countries of Japan, France & the USA.

Some of the key highlights include:

• 84 per cent of the 56 IPTV service providers we covered offer a combination of basic plans and additional subscription packages.  The upper ceiling for additional packages is up to Euro 15 per month for 80 per cent of surveyed operators.
• 86 per cent of the 56 IPTV service providers we covered offer Video on Demand services.
• 85 per cent of all IPTV service providers offer up to 15 independent channels to complement their basic offering. The most popular categories in terms of content are those of Sports and Adult material.
• Access to a bundle of channels that can range any where between 2 and 226.

“Increasingly operators now offer in addition to the basic plan, a basket of additional packages,” says Margrit Sessions, Managing Director of TCL. "Just under 50 per cent of the surveyed operators have this offer ranging from 1 to 5 channels", she added.

More telecoms providers are offering IPTV services as a means of increasing customer stickiness with Triple Play services. Incumbent telecoms operators are responding to the competitive threat posed by the Cable TV operator in markets such as the Benelux, Germany and the UK.

Notes to editors:

About the TCL IPTV Pricing Trends 2011 Report
The report provides pricing and analysis of some 56 service providers.  A single user licence costs GBP 995.00.

About TCL. Based in London, Tariff Consultancy Ltd (TCL) offers a range of pricing reports, subscription services and consultancy which are focussed on mobile, fixed network and co-location services. Customers include mobile and fixed line operators, regulators, enterprises and IT providers.