Chinese government reins in IPTV growth

China, one of the world's largest markets for internet TV, is failing to realise its full potential owing to regulatory hurdles, observers believe.

Revenues from internet TV broadcasts in China will grow to $600m within four years, according to research from telecoms consultancy Ovum. 

While Chinese telecoms operators would like to provide IPTV broadcasts, they are not permitted to under current regulations.

"Due to the government's extensive control over television content, I do not think there will be a great improvement in the regulatory development favouring IPTV in the near term," said Kevin Lee, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Ovum.

"This means that telecoms operators might need to wait to obtain IPTV licences. In the meantime, they will continue to explore different business models to try to secure more service revenues."

Official determination to keep firm control over all aspects of TV broadcasting is behind the regulatory hurdles, according to observers.

China's broadcasting and communications regulators maintain an iron grip on media content on television and radio, in print and on the internet.

Particular attention is paid to content which appears to challenge government authority in any way, such as political and religious programming, and to a lesser extent so-called 'moral' issues, such as drug use and pornography.

In line with this extremely cautious official approach, regulators are often slow to permit new entrants into the broadcasting business. Some believe that the hurdles will be overcome in the near future, however.

"In the medium-term, we expect more players to be licensed to enter the market, with 'convergence' being mentioned for the first time in the most recent five-year plan for the ICT sector," said analyst Harvey Tomlinson at US-based Pyramid Research. 

"We forecast reasonable growth for the next two years, but an upsurge after that."

See also:

IPTV subscribers set to double every year

But regulatory issues could slow growth  03 Nov 2006

Asia-Pacific telcos face broadband challenge

Slower growth as mature markets reach saturation  30 Oct 2006

China gears up for mobile TV bonanza

Government pushing for widespread services to be ready for Olympic Games  20 Oct 2006

Metro Ethernet to earn $7.7bn in Asia by 2010

Businesses and IPTV among key growth drivers  27 Sep 2006

PCCW reports falling profits and overseas losses

But Hong Kong telco is surviving VoIP onslaught  22 Sep 2006

China to lead the broadband world

IPTV and games will help lure almost 140 million online by 2010  05 Sep 2006

Watch TV on your PC

Get the lowdown on the wealth of TV content available on the internet  07 Sep 2006

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