I remember back in the day of phone modems when the big tech companies were trying to push ISDN as the all in one data line for phone, data and television. Unfortunately due to slow adoption, the medium was never successful.Nowadays we have cell phones, ADSL, and digital cable. Still, on the cable end China is still lagging behind. Are they ready to adopt IPTV, rather than digital cable as their source of entertainment?

I seem to have mentioned the Chinese government’s restrictions on media innumerable times already, but again, it is a hurdle to IPTV entering China. Yet despite this, the piracy or the relatively shallow penetration that IPTV has, the potential is enormous. Industry experts are claiming that China will soon overshadow markets such as Italy, Japan and Hong Kong.

For those of you unfamiliar with HDTV, think of it as streaming video from the web, without a computer. It really is simply just that.

German company Siemens has already bet on the success of IPTV in China, launching their own IPTV service in conjunction with Shanghai Telecom Company with Shanghai Media Group providing content.

While IPTV has been growing its roots in China for some time now, it is at the point where it will reach critical mass needed for mass adoption and eventual changeover from traditional cable services. Could this also see the better integration of cable and internet companies? Signs point to yes, but it depends greatly on what the government does at this stage.