2008 European - Convergence and Broadcasting Market

Europe’s media market is on the cusp of massive changes driven by new technological developments in fixed-line broadband, while from 2010 mobile technologies led by LTE will enable a range of media services to be delivered on the mobile platform. Fast Internet access has brought content to the forefront, and content providers are in a position to move into the telecom arena. Quad play models based on fibre, DSL, cable and HSPA/LTE networks will deliver a growing number of services.

Operators are fast upgrading their communications networks to IP packet-switched technology, providing convergence and enabling voice, video and data applications to be delivered over the same physical network. Consumers are in the meantime exploiting the possibilities inherent in Digital and Personal Video Recorders, VoD and user-generated content to transform the way content is delivered and managed.
 

The availability of convergence offerings in Eastern Europe is expanding but has largely depended on the maturity of broadband markets, with many still in the nascent stages of development in terms of subscriber numbers. Yet the continuing deployment of ADSL2+ and FTTx infrastructure is laying the foundation for future convergence offerings. Technological developments coupled with competition are shaping digital media. TV broadcasters, the traditional distributors of media content, are competing with and at the same time turning to Internet delivery platforms. While new players have entered traditional media markets, new markets based on digital media products have emerged and are growing on the back of the region’s high broadband penetration.

The transition to Digital Terrestrial TV continues to take place, with countries such as Sweden having already switched off analogue signals. Regulators are assigning digital dividend spectrum released from this process to improve mobile broadband across the region, so accelerating the possibilities for convergent services in rural areas.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

The following notes provide some background to our scenario forecasting methodology:

·         This report includes what we term scenario forecasts. By describing long-range scenarios we identify a band within which we expect market growth to occur. The associated text describes what we see as the most likely growth trend within this band.

·         The projections shown in the tables in this report are based on our own historical information, as well as on telecommunication sector statistics from official and non-official, national and international sources. We assume a possible deviation of 15-20% around this data.

·         All statistics for GDP, revenue, etc are shown in US$, in order to maintain consistency within and between markets. At the same time we acknowledge that this can introduce some irregularities.