Research and Markets: 2008 European Outlook Report for the Digital Media Market

DUBLIN, Ireland--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/036059/2008_european_di) has
announced the addition of the "2008 European - Digital Media Market" report to
their offering.

This report covers developments in Europe's digital media market, including an
assessment of EU and national strategies for maximising the potential of the
digital dividend to 2012. Europe's media market is on the cusp of massive
changes driven by new technological developments in broadband, with IP-delivered
content provided via upgraded DSL and cable networks, and increasingly
widespread fibre networks. Faster Internet access has also enabled content
providers to move into the telecom arena. IPTV has become a successful
proposition in markets such as France, providing fresh opportunities for
emerging digital media companies such as Yahoo! and Google.

The market for digital home services in Europe is promising in coming years,
shaped by technological developments and cross-platform competition. 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, most notably in the burgeoning satellite
pay TV market, new markets based on digital media products are growing on the
back of rising broadband penetration, most notably in Central Eastern Europe,
the Baltic region and Russia.

Cable TV remains popular across the region, with household cable penetration in
some Eastern European countries among the highest in the EU. Competition has led
to consolidation among operators, particularly in Germany, and an expanding
product portfolio to encompass broadband access and fixed-line telephony.
Nevertheless, for cable TV operators video will remain the principal revenue
driver in coming years. The traditional terrestrial TV broadcasting sector is
rapidly evolving, with all countries progressing with digital terrestrial
broadcasting initiatives to meet milestone analogue switch-off dates. A number
of countries, including Sweden, have already switched off analogue signals and
are utilising spectrum for a myriad of uses, including wireless broadband.

The countries covered in this report include: Albania, Austria, Belarus,
Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYROM), Malta, Moldova, Montenegro,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

Key highlights:

Sweden

Digital switchover in Sweden, undertaken region by region, was completed
nationwide by October 2007. Four digital TV multiplexes cover approximately 98%
of the population and a fifth multiplex 50%. A sixth multiplex went live in
mid-2007, with capacity reserved for HDTV and mobile TV, while an eight was to
be licensed later in 2009. IPTV is dominated by TeliaSonera, while the cablecos
Com Hem and Tele2Vision.

Germany

The number of triple play subscribers reached about 1.3 million by early 2009,
and continued dynamic growth is expected over the next few years. Bundled
services have become very popular among consumers, stimulating further network
upgrades among providers. The triple play platforms of cable and DSL have
considerable footprints in Germany, while mobile wireless is likely to be
deployed from 2010 in conjunction with other broadcasting networks. Deutsche
Telekom's VDSL networks have been extended to some 50 cities, while the
consolidated cable sector has largely been upgraded to 840MHz in order to
deliver high-bandwidth content. DSL providers trying to expand into the
broadband TV sector have been hampered by Germany's television market which
includes numerous free channels.

United Kingdom

The UK has one of the more competitive markets in Europe for triple play
services, with competition at the infrastructure level between the main cable
provider Virgin Media and the numerous DSL providers. In addition, the main
satellite broadcaster BSkyB has entered the broadband arena, exploiting the
fast-growing sector's revenue potential, while mobile network operators are
undergoing network upgrades to develop 4G services from 2010, which will enable
them to compete for targeted TV audiences and potential revenue streams. Virgin
Media's launch of 50Mb/s services in early 2009, together with a planned 200Mb/s
service expected to be operational by 2012, will open up further possibilities
for the HDTV market. BT's FttC network, to be deployed to some ten million homes
by 2012 and given the economic go-ahead by the regulator's guarantee of
appreciable returns on investments and unregulated wholesale access pricing,
will similarly be a fillip for converged IP services in coming years.

Spain

Although Spain's broadband infrastructure is being upgraded to provide triple
play services to a wider proportion of the population, much investment remains
to be undertaken in regional areas. Telefónica remains the largest broadband
provider, though strong competition exists from alternative operators based on
LLU and from the main cableco ONO. Growth in triple play and IPTV will require
far greater investment in network infrastructure in coming years. Fibre has only
a small presence in the Spanish market, so ADSL2+ will be the preferred vehicle
for emerging triple play offerings until fibre networks from Telefónica
(launched in October 2008) and Orange (trialled in Barcelona and Madrid) are
extended. As of January 2009 the Spanish regulator's encouragement of facilities
based competition on fibre networks extended wholesale access to the full range
of Telefónica's VDSL and fibre platforms, thus encouraging competition and
broadening the scope for regional triple play services.

France

The French government has supported DTTV by requiring the platform to carry both
FTA and pay TV services. It also opened up the TV advertising market for new
entrants and has part-funded the public broadcaster France Télévisions to
develop its DTTV services. By 2011 about 95% of the population should be served
by DTTV. Digital dividend spectrum also has considerable potential to drive
wireless broadband use. The regulator is also developing mobile broadband using
the UHF band to provide nationwide broadband coverage of at least 10Mb/s. The
regulator planned to allocate 790-862MHz sub-band spectrum to mobile services as
soon as the analogue switch-off takes place.

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.

This report comprises 41 chapters of country analysis

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/036059/2008_european_di

Research and Markets
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716

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