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Home Net Expansion of Multimedia Services

Rapid growth in home networking -- approaching 168 million households worldwide in 2008 -- is laying the foundation for expansion of multimedia services internationally and especially in the European markets, according to the latest Parks Associates study.

The market research firm will host their CONNECTIONS Europe Summit to discuss the implications of this market growth and share the latest findings of its Global Digital Living (GDL) project.

Parks Associates launched GDL in 2005 to track and analyze international adoption and consumer attitudes toward advanced digital technologies and services.

The most recent survey studies the growth of entertainment services in the top European markets. The project includes country profiles and consumer surveys and examines adoption and valuation of DVDs, online video and video-on-demand, DVRs, and high-definition TV services, among other topics.

"Broadband growth pushed Europe ahead of North America in terms of home network adoption," said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.

"With the network in place, providers will tie in high-demand entertainment services. By 2012, over one-third of networked nodes worldwide will have entertainment or multimedia functionality, with particularly strong growth in IPTV services."

While I can't imagine IPTV growth in the U.S. will match Europe anytime soon, there's no doubt in my mind that over-the-top video applications will drive further expansion of multimedia use on home networks. Meanwhile, the traditional broadcast television model will be fully saturated.

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