While the Internet and use of computers continues to dominate many individuals’ homes and use of the telecom market, it’s not the only service that is constantly improving. 

Despite the fact that individuals can watch specific shows and movies on computers in today’s era, television still has a stronghold on the current population.

And, according to a report from Strategy Analytics (News - Alert), it looks as though television is here to stay. The research firm estimates that Verizon’s FiOS TV customer base will grow 12 percent in the third quarter 2009, which will push the total number of subscribers to over 2.8 million. 

Strategy Analytics also predicted that AT&T (News - Alert) is expected to add over 250,000 new U-verse subs, which would imply a 17 percent sequential growth rate. 

In total, the report estimated that the United States IPTV customer base will grow to around 15.5 million by 2013, which is contingent on the ability of various telecom companies – including Verizon (News - Alert) and AT&T – to deliver the value of IPTV to create a growing domino effect of customers. 

Ben Piper, analyst and director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service, said that telecoms – as a way to expand their customer base and reach the predicted estimates by Strategy Analytics – need to go beyond trying to simply replicate the cable experience. 

“Content does matter, but so do features,” Piper said. “Operators able to optimize relevant feature sets for customers will ultimately succeed.”

According to Strategy Analytics, the total telecommunications television market within the United States is estimated to be roughly 4.6 million subscribers by the end of the third quarter 2009. In terms of yearly values, the research group predicts this subscriber number to increase to nearly 5.3 million by year-end 2009.