MUMBAI: This is a piece of news that will make content makers and providers in the US sit up and take notice! The research firm Research and Market has predicted that there will be
nearly 70 million broadband households in the US in 2008.
The firm has stated that broadband households will grow at a compound annual rate of 19.4 per cent between 2004 and 2008. Household penetration will increase from 23.1 per cent to
56.3 per cent over the same period.
The report states that the explosion won't merely affect high-speed Internet access but also create an entirely new market, including voice and video transmissions. Cable and telecom companies will fiercely compete in this space. That is because this market is worth ten times the value of the Internet access business alone.
The fight is between the telecom and cable companies to enter into competing turfs. Telecom companies are offering video services while cable companies are offering voice services. The company that controls the broadband connection will largely control the future digital home. The current scrambling for position is a precursor to the real battle about to begin between cable and telecom companies as they encroach on each other's traditional territory. "You want a piece of me? I'll take a piece of you!" could well be the catch phrase of this new era.
Billions of dollars of revenue are in play. The business decisions that are made over the next 12 to 24 months will determine whether massive corporate entities thrive, survive or disappear.
The North America Broadband report explores the changing dynamic of the broadband market and its effects on the communications and entertainment industries. The report notes that convergence, which was once only a dream, is happening in homes across the US and it is changing the character and product offerings of some of the most powerful corporations in the US.
Key questions that the report addresses include:
- Will new broadband technologies overtake cable and ADSL?
- How can marketers take advantage of increased broadband penetration?
- Is there a future for dial-up?
- Will new wireless access technologies swamp
wireline solutions?
This information will be useful for ISPs, film and television producers, television channels and mobile content providers.
