Telecom companies planning to enter the IPTV (internet protocol television) market may delay their entry, whereas others who are planning to expand their IPTV offerings like MTNL, BSNL, Bharti Airtel and HFCL to other parts of the country may reconsider it, feel industry analysts. Investment delays in infrastructure owing to the downturn, complex user interface and insufficient bandwidth availability would be the major reasons leading to the slow growth of the IPTV market, they say.

Jehil Thakkar, an analyst with KPMG says, ?India will see barely 250,000 subscribers for this calendar year. The companies will have to focus on providing the last mile infrastructure to meet end needs of subscribers, which seems to be a challenge for them.? KPMG, in a recent report, has estimated the IPTV subscriber base in India to be around four million by 2013.

In India , IPTV is now being considered as a part of the growth plans of most major telecoms . Telcos would have to spend huge amount for the network upgrade and rolling out the services but will have to wait for about 2-3 years to break even. Also, the revenues for the companies investing in IPTV will start flowing from 2010. In terms of equipment, it is the broadband connection and a set-top-box which is required whereas it is the connection speed and the service quality that will lead to rich user experience. In additional to this, either users or the operators bear the cost of installation depending on the package being offered by the operators.

Thakkar added that IPTV services will contribute to significantly higher APRUs. This would be largely on account of the increased usage of add-on services like video-on-demand, movie-on-demand, video phone calling services etc. As the number of companies offering bundled services increases, competitive pressures would eventually lead to low subscription charges. Moreover, operators will become more creative to encourage subscribers to use their services more frequently and thus drive up ARPUs. Usha Rajeev, leader telecom practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers India mentioned that in the long run, IPTV will contribute to a juicy bit to the profits of the operators.

Companies should invest more in marketing to increase user awareness regarding the service as the ?word-of-mouth? is not sufficient to drive subscriber base for IPTV. ? We are targeting our IPTV service at a very niche audience. For promoting it, we will be using a specifically tailored communication plan beginning with a press ad, followed by road shows and demos at residential areas, and calling our existing customers,? stated Atul Bindal, president, mobile services, Bharti Airtel.

Girish Trivedi, deputy director, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan ( South Asia and Middle East ) opined ?As customers mature, they will understand the intangible benefits associated with IPTV and would go for the service.? Considering all the benefits IPTV provides, maximized quality of service (QoS) will be a major differentiator in the years ahead.

• Telcos would have to spend huge amount for network upgrade & rolling out the services but will have to wait for about 2-3 years to break even

• Broadband connection and a set-top-box are required and connection speed and the service quality will lead to rich user experience

• IPTV services will see higher APRUs, largely because of various add-on services like video-on-demand