Research from GlobalData has found that South Korea’s IPTV markets is to enjoy steady growth over the next five years with service revenue is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% to reach US$3.8 billion.
This is based on, said the Asia-Pacific Fixed Communications and Pay-TV Forecast Packs report, South Korea’s IPTV market’s subscriber base growing to 18 million in 2024. By this time, IPTV is expected to cover nearly 86% of the households in the company, compared with nearly 30% of the households in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region at this time.
Looking at market dynamics, the analyst found that an increase in competition, mobile network operators (MNOs) are introducing attractive features along with bundled IPTV services in South Korea. It noted that LG U+ has integrated Netflix to its IPTV set-top box with attractive tariff plans, thereby reducing the churn to below 1%. At the same time, KT Corporation has introduced IPTV with virtual reality (VR), where viewers can experience VR-based Full HD video-on-demand (FHD VOD) using the TV’s remote only, and plans to launch artificial intelligence-based content recommendation system. SK Telecom also launched the Wavve OTT service to provide original regional content to its customers.
Another key driver for the South Korean IPTV market has been what are seen as favourable government policies to increase the fibre footprint to cover the entire nation with a speed of up to 1 Gbps and a business environment with private participation in the early deployment of fibre optic networks.
“With the availability of abundant content, subscribers are shifting from cable TV to IPTV,” said GlobalData research analyst of telecoms market data and intelligence Akash Jatwala. “Some of the reasons for the churn in cable TV include super-fast broadband with wider penetration and attractive tariff plans with bundled services including VOD and OTT.
“Amid increasing broadband footprint and speed, customers are switching from Cable TV to IPTV, and to enhance the value propositions of their customers, MNOs are partnering with OTT content players to stay in the competition. By adding OTT content to their bundles, MNOs can boost customer loyalty and enhance data usage, ultimately increasing their overall ARPU.”