Interactive digital TV in Asia

　　Interactive digital TV may be the Asia-Pacific regi on's key to catching up with the rest of the e-commerce world, according to a report released Tuesday by Anders en Consulting.

　　According to the study, the Asia-Pacific region boa sts the highest rates of TV penetration in the world, a long with a substantial and growing broadband subscribe r base. Cable and satellite TV businesses in the region are expected to earn total revenues from consumer purch ases of more than US ＄46 billion within a decade.

　　For the business world, digital TV marks the second wave of the e-commerce gold rush, and is likely to have even more profound and wide-sweeping implications for b usiness-to-consumer commerce than the Internet. Governm ent deregulation and a willingness by Asian youth to em brace new TV technology will throw the market wide open in almost every retail industry, the study says.

　　According to Andersen, a much higher number of Asia n households own TV sets than PCs. For example, china's major cities have nearly 100 percent cable penetration and Singapore has already cabled 99 percent of all its homes. In China, 88 percent of the population owns a TV , while well under one percent possesses a PC.

　　With high television penetration rates, extensive c able TV networks, strong growth in broadband internet p enetration, and a youthful population, the Asia-Pacific region if well positioned to carve out a leading role i n a medium that will ultimately reshape the way the wor ld lives, works and plays.

　　Analysts believe television sets will increasingly be used for shopping, banking and electronic communicat ions. Currently, 470 million households in the region a re connected to cable and satellite TV networks, more t han those in either the U.S. or Europe.

　　"The combination of digital technology and broadban d pipes makes possible a vast array of new services," t he study said, "enabling companies to create and offer services to engage and build long-term relationships wi th an unprecedented number of consumers." Although the advent of digital TV. Will create opportunities for fas t-moving e-companies in almost every Asian service indu stry, the true impact of digital TV may hinge on severa l unresolved factors.

　　For example, the initial high costs of digital TV s ets may preclude consumers from hopping on board. Build ing comfort levels and the ability of broadcasters to c reate engaging content will also play a major role in t he e-commerce success of the new medium.