The telco TV market is quickly adding new deployments and subscribers, which is boosting headend equipment sales as each deployment requires at least one headend, reports research firm In-Stat. Growth in the ranks of subscribers means more revenue from licence, service, and support fees for vendors of middleware, content protection, and on-demand platforms, the high-tech market, according to In-Stat's study – Telco TV Headends Moving to the Upgrade Phase.

“As more headends are built, the market for broadcast TV content-processing equipment will turn from newly built headends to headend upgrades,” says Michelle Abraham, In-Stat analyst. “Many of these upgrades will be the addition or replacement of encoding equipment as more channels are added and encoding technology improves. The launch of new HD channels will be a driving factor for additional encoding equipment.”

In-Stat findings suggest that the worldwide telco TV headend market will reach $732 million in 2011; broadcast content processing equipment revenue will stagnate, while middleware, content protection, and on-demand content will continue to Rise; a video-on-demand (VOD) service has become a requirement for many telcos when they deploy telco TV, which has improved the market for on-demand equipment vendors.

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