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In a country, which is gasping for that sweet point on the broad-band, explode graph, IPTV may just help in providing the much-needed thrust. Internet users in India reached 37 million September '06 up 54% from 25 million in March '05. India today has 110+ Mn TV sets in the country.
In contrast to this, the number of PCs (Laptops + Desktops) is a meager 5+ Mn figure. Though the total PC market grew over 27% in 2004-05, but the household segment contributed for only 12%. The immediate implication being that huge percentage of those 60+ Mn cable homes in India do not have an Internet connection. There is for sure a significant target addressable opportunity market that may be willing to use their TVs as basic computing machines for basic Internet applications like ticketing, browsing, e-mailing, etc. Though the total Internet users may not look appealing but the real indicator is the total online 'active users' estimate: 100 million by 2007-08. (Source: Internet & Mobile Association of India.)

An indication that even though total Internet users are increasing at 50+% rates but PC growth is limited at 27%, a clear indication that people don't want to spend that extra money over the PC.

Even though IPTV continues and will continue to be a difficult decision for Telco, particularly in the Indian context (limited usable wire-line penetration) but it makes perfect sense to take the logical next step of delivering media service over the established network.

Though most of the Telcos are trying and attempting to manage their business by themselves without any content partner but it makes perfect sense to have a content partner to garner an edge. Once the content partner is in place, it is only the delivery of content using any of the various mediums on wire-line and wireless. In fact the content acquisition model should move around the availability of entertainment delivery platforms, the real estate on which can vary from mobile hand-sets to owning multiplex chains. Most of the successful IPTV operators across the globe, be it PCCW, France Telecom, Belgacom, Fastweb and others have thrived on the exclusive premier content strategy to reap the benefits. It also makes sense to have integrated content strategy to target distribution rights which can cater to multiple platforms like broad-band, 3G, Internet portals &of course IPTV.

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* Contributed by: -
Piyush Upadhyay,
Management Graduate from Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Pune,
Currently working with Airtel Broadband & Telephone Services.