Now TV nears 1mn IPTV subs

August 22, 2008 - Hong Kong telco PCCW reached 927,000 subscribers for its "Now TV" IPTV service by the end of the first half of this year, an increase of 13% over June 2007.

Of the total subscriber base, 668,000 were reported to be paying for the service by the end of the first half of this year, an increase of 19% year-on-year, and average revenue per user (ARPU) went up 28% by the same comparison to reach HK$213 (US$27.28).  ARPU was reportedly stimulated by the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament, which attracted customers to the Mega Sports Pack, as well as growing demand for high value packs and high-definition premium channels.

PCCW's TV &  Content division revenues of HK$1.039bn for the first half of this year, up 45% from the same period of last year, due to higher subscriber numbers, higher revenues per user and improved advertising earnings.  PCCW also said that it plans to introduce more high-definition and personal video recorder services in the second half of this year.