DVB-T2 set-tops tipped to reach 18m homes

More than 18 million DVB-T2 set-top boxes are expected to ship in 2015 as part of a second wave of digital conversion, according to new ABI stats.

The research firm said that with Western Europe and North America effectively making the transition to DTT by the end of 2012, the next milestone year for a number of countries in eastern Europe and Middle-East is expected to be 2015 – with DVB-T2 likely to be adopted in these territories from the start.

ABI added that while many countries have settled on a DTT technology, the digital path is “less consistent” in regions where multiple DTT technologies are present and future analogue are due in the wide timeframe of 2015 to 2020 and beyond.

“If remaining analogue shutoff timelines go largely as planned, we expect over 18 million DVB-T2 STBs will ship in 2015. Other potential factors, like spectrum reallocation for mobile broadband in Western Europe, might increase the demand for DVB-T2 boxes, but this likely won’t be a significant factor until the latter half, if not past the 2018 forecasting window,” said senior ABI analyst Michael Inouye.