The report, which tracks the top 120 IPTV vendors in 24 regional sectors, relates that there are currently more than 800 IPTV services in operation globally, with over 80 new operators starting new services since March 2009, of which most were in North America, Europe and the Rest of World regions.

In the IPTV Access sector, Alcatel-Lucent was found to hold a 51% share of the worldwide access market, as well as furthering its strength as a systems integrator and holding the number two position in the global middleware sector (behind Microsoft).

In the Content Security sector, Verimatrix retains its number one global market ranking, holding a 26% share of the global market (up 2% since March 2009), and with strong positions in all four of the regional markets.

In the Set-top Box sector, Motorola still dominates the global market, according to the report, with a 28% share globally – up 5% since March 2009 – followed by smaller and highly aggressive companies such as Amino, ADB and Netgem. Over 25 companies were found to compete in the STB market worldwide, which often represents over 60% of CapEx for IPTV operations.

In the Video Headend Encoders sector, Motorola also maintains its number one position with a 38% share of the worldwide market, while Ericsson/TANDBERG Television follows strongly with a 34% share (up 3% from March 2009) and is described as “closing the gap” on Motorola in this market sector, where the top five vendors are found to hold about 94% of the global market, leaving only 6% to the other six competitors.

In both the Middleware and Video-on-Demand (VOD) sectors, a crowded field of companies continue to struggle to compete against the Microsoft “juggernaut”, according to the report.

“Significant growth of China’s IPTV subscribers enabled both Huawei and ZTE to improve their rankings in several sectors,” said Jose Alvear, MRG Analyst. “These grew out of new developments at China Telecom and China Unicom as they expanded into different provinces.”

Türk Telekom hosted top executive members of ETNO (European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association), which plays an important role in shaping the future of telecom sector, in Istanbul. ETNO realized its 2nd High Level Conference and Board Meeting in Çırağan Palace, Istanbul, hosted by Türk Telekom.

Besides the top executives of ETNO members, which are leading telecom companies of the world, more than 100 telecommunication professionals including regulation, strategy and business development managers attended the meeting.

“Access in Information Society” and “Universal Services” was the key topics of the conference entitled “Connecting Europe in the Digital Age”. Other topics of telecommunication sector like broadband, IP communication, wireless devices, next generation access, convergence and next generation networks have also been evaluated.

Commenting about the conference which determines the agenda of world telecommunication sector, Türk Telekom General Manager Dr. Paul Doany stated that as a founding member of ETNO, Türk Telekom played an important role by building a bridge that carries regulation issues of Turkey to EU, and decisions of EU to Turkey by hosting this conference. Doany said: “As Türk Telekom, we are glad to host the High Level Conference of ETNO. As one of the founding members, it is a pleasure for us to play an effective role in ETNO working groups. Turkey will benefit from hosting important guests from the global telecommunication sector in Istanbul, and evaluation of important issues in Istanbul. We believe we have very fruitful discussions in Turkey about important issues of regulation and competition which are in Europe’s agenda.”

ETNO General Secretary Michael Bartholomew said: “We were delighted to have our conference hosted in Turkey by Turk Telekom, a key player in the region. Türk Telekom supports Turkey’s economical development with next generation networks and big investments on services. In the context of the current economic crisis, high speed broadband networks are more essential than ever, as they will not only benefit the society as a whole, but drive economic recovery and growth. It is essential that the right regulatory framework is in place to encourage all players to invest and share risks.”

Founded in 1992, ETNO has 42 biggest fixed line operators from 36 European countries as members and Türk Telekom is one of the founding members. Besides Türk Telekom, there are British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Finnet, France Telecom, Telenor and TeliaSonera which are the leading telecom operators of the world as members of ETNO. ETNO has also giant telecommunication companies as observers such as AT&T, Telstra and Verizon.

Global entertainment and media revenue is forecast rising by an average of 6.6 percent a year to $2.2 trillion by 2012, boosted by advertising-supported digital and mobile media and an explosion in the adoption of broadband.

According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) annual forecast released on Wednesday, advertising tied to the burgeoning interest in watching videos on the Internet and on devices, such as Apple Inc’s <AAPL.O> iPod, will account for 24 percent of growth in the sector and is projected to grow fastest at a compound annual growth rate of 19.5 percent to 2012.

Total entertainment and media revenue growth is seen outpacing global gross domestic product, which will increase 5.7 percent, according to the report.

Despite the acceleration of digital businesses, revenue from traditional media venues such as television will still dominate global market share, if not growth. Digital and mobile revenue will account for only 11 percent of total spending, or $234 billion, in the next five years.

PwC’s report presents a more stable view of large media and entertainment companies. Those shares have sunk more than 13 percent since the beginning of the year — at a steeper rate than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> — on fears that the weak economic climate could curtail consumer spending and spark an advertising recession.

Last week, Lehman Brothers argued that with entertainment company valuations near 10-year lows, it might be a good time for investors to shop for deals, such as News Corp <NWSa.N>.

One surprise: Advertising on over-the-air television globally — the sector viewed by Wall Street as one of the most vulnerable in a weakened economy — is expected to rise 5 percent on a compounded annual growth basis to 2012, making it the most resilient to threats posed by digital growth.

“The oft-reported death of traditional media remains greatly exaggerated,” according to the report.

The weakest area in the next five years will be the music industry. Ravaged by online piracy, recorded music sales are expect to fall by 0.6 percent to 2012, but is seen growing again by 2011, when digital sales will overtake CD sales.

What’s unlikely to be solved in the next five years? “While companies are making bold moves to follow consumers into the digital/mobile future, they continue to wrestle with the challenge of creating business models that adequately monetize their efforts,” the report said.

PwC’s report, which surveys 15 major industry segments in 59 countries, underscored a trend over the past few years. The United States will continue to account for the biggest share of revenue by country, or $759 billion by 2012, but will grow the slowest at about 4.8 percent, outpaced by the Asia Pacific and Latin America.