The rise of internet TV and IPTV will be paralleled by the rise in smartphone penetration use, and its accessibility to those services, suggests a new report by Juniper.
It is expected that by 2016 nearly 10% of all mobile TV revenue will come through tablets, such as the iPad. By this point, broadcast TV will be minimal on mobile devices, outside of the far east and China.
While free video and other video services, such as Youtube, will remain popular, an increase in subscriber TV revenues on mobile devices will provide the majority of revenues.
Usage habits are also changing. Much of this popularity for mobile devices is being created due to time shifting and ‘place shifting’. Time shifting is, consumers saving and watching live and ondemand TV shows to watch at a later time – similar to TiVO or Sky+ currently.
Placeshifting is moving these devices from the main viewing platform on to subsidiary devices, such as from a smart TV to an iPad.
Alongside both these facets is the need for consumers to be able to access time critical content, such as sports and live news as it occurs.
"The smartphone really allows the consumer to transport the TV experience out of the home, allowing them to view live and on-demand content while on the move. The ubiquity of free WiFi also allows users of these services to access content without the threat of billshock – driving take up of streamed mobile TV services across all WiFi-enabled mobile devices," said Juniper’s Charlotte Miller.
The boost in 4G mobile network availability, alongside better WI-Fi coverage will also increase usage, once the networks mature and prices fall. Smartphone penetration is already outstripping feature phone growth in many developing nations, the US and UK already are up to 50%.
