18 April 2007

MPA: Asia set to double its broadband customers by 2012
By Joe Leahy
Financial Times - Asia Edition
(c) 2007 The Financial Times Limited. All rights reserved.
The number of broadband subscribers in Asia is expected to double in the next four years to 216m, according to a report highlighting the growth of the Asia-Pacific broadband and pay-TV industries.

Household penetration of broadband, currently at 13 per cent in the region, is expected to reach 24 per cent by 2012 and 31 per cent by 2015, with China reaching 40 per cent and India 11 per cent.

“In 2006, Asia's pay-TV and broadband industries generated turnover in excess of Dollars 44bn, which represented 0.4 per cent of GDP,” said the report's author, Vivek Couto, director of content and research in Hong Kong at Media Partners Asia, a leading information services provider. “This has the potential to grow exponentially.”

The report, “Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2007”, tracks the growth of broadcasting and broadband services over a number of distribution networks, from cable to satellite, fixed- line and wireless networks, in 16 markets.

It found that total pay-TV subscribers in Asia were 255m last year, a number that is expected to increase to 381m in five years and 446m by 2015.

By 2015, 55 per cent of Asian homes will be watching pay-TV compared with 40 per cent now, the report said.

“Cash generation and profitability are rising in Asia’s pay-TV and broadcasting sectors, causing a stampede of investors, especially private equity firms,” the report said.

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the sector more than doubled last year to Dollars 8.7bn.

Pay-TV advertising is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10 per cent over the next decade to reach Dollars 12.6bn by 2015.

India would emerge as the region’s most lucrative pay-TV market after 2010 for cable and satellite broadcasters, the report said. While China would attract higher advertising dollars, subscription revenues would be higher in India.