Olympic IPTV Boom in Shanghai

Due to its replay function that provides access to programs aired in the past 48 hours, subsciptions to IPTV, are booming in Shanghai ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. China Telecom has received about 3,000 IPTV subscriptions every day, the most in its history.

The number of IPTV users in Shanghai has reached 510 thousand and is expected to hit 800 thousand by the end of 2008. BestTV, the IPTV unit of Shanghai Media Group, said it would promote a new service during the Olympics that enable viewers to watch different sporting events on different windows on one screen.

Shanghai Media Group provides two HDTV programs that are being viewed by more than 20,000 users. About 300 thousand Shanghai broadband users can receive this HD service,''

The company is facing the problem that the installation of wiring to support IPTV can sometimes damage the interior of people's.

This is another example of how sports content can significantly increase the subscription of IPTV services. It is interesting to see that HD has started to penetrate in Shanghai.

250,000 IPTV Subscribers in Shanghai Telecom

BesTV reportedly had 250 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2006. BesTV is the IPTV subsidiary of Shanghai Telecom and the Shanghai Medical Group that offers IPTV services in Shanghai and surrounding provinces in China. This service started in August 2005.

It was also reported that BesTV had 80 thousand subscribers at the end of 2006 and has 100 thousand today.

These numbers represent a high rate of growth. It appears that the BesTV IPTV deployment has had a quite successful start.