Asia-Pacific to Drive Global Mobile TV Market
Mobile TV is television service delivered to subscribers via mobile telecommunications networks, such as the mobile phone carriers. It allows viewers to enjoy personalized, interactive TV with content specifically adapted to the mobile medium. The services and viewing experience of mobile TV differs in a number of ways from traditional TV viewing as it offers true mobility to cellular users. In addition to mobility, mobile TV delivers a variety of services, including video-on-demand, traditional/linear and live TV programs.
The RNCOS research report "Global Mobile TV Forecast to 2013" found that the number of mobile TV subscribers are projected to grow at a CAGR of over 45 percent between 2009 and 2013 to reach around 450 million by end-2013. The RNCOS team has carried out in-depth study of the global mobile TV market, including detailed analysis on the key geographical regions of the world like Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. After analyzing the present and future market trends, the study predicts that Asia-Pacific region will dominate the global mobile TV market. Countries that will feature strongly in the growth of mobile TV market in the APAC region include Japan, South Korea, China, India, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
There are several factors that have helped to lay down the foundations for mobile TV, not just in Asia, but other regions of the world. The digital switchover provides one key reason as it allows TV stations to broadcast in real-time on portable devices. Another factor has been the massive increase in the ownership of portable devices and mobile phones. SingTel announced recently that they had seen their regional mobile customer base grow to 285 million as of December 2009 showing an impressive increase of 25 percent or 52 million compared to December 2008.
Demand for 3G mobile services has also remained very strong with an increased penetration of smartphones. In fact, SingTel’s total 3G customer base grew steadily by 65,000 in the final quarter of 2009 to 1.41 million as of December 2009. Consumers have been attracted by smartphone technology. New players in the market such as Google, that has just introduced the Nexus One, will ensure that competition in the smartphone market remains high. Now people have their phones, they want to use them and with the number of TV stations broadcasting to mobile devices set to grow and with more definite advertising and monetizing plans in place, the stage seems set for mobile TV to take-off in earnest.
