Light Reading is a respected player in the technology media world but its recent top ten Global IPTV carriers has caused controversy. The survey confirmed France as the leading IPTV market with French carriers taking out three positions, including Iliad which was number one. Verizon's U.S. based FiOS TV service and its 700,000 plus customers would have walked it in to the number four slot if not for a definition technicality. FiOS TV is delivered by fiber optic cable and while the interactivity is IP based, the actual TV signal is sent by an overlay network using the radio frequency spectrum.
Similarly Google's YouTube with its tens of millions of users would have won easily, but was vetoed because it is not delivered by a dedicated DSL or fiber line. Such line drawing confirms just how quickly some industry structures have become out dated and how dynamic the surging Internet video industry is. The days are long gone when IPTV could be considered a telco only domain.
For more:
- Light Reading's Top Ten Global IPTV carriers Article
- No US carriers in top ten list Article