Info Image

1-in-5 Mobile Connections to be on 4G LTE by 2019, China, Japan and India Major Drivers

1-in-5 Mobile Connections to be on 4G LTE by 2019, China, Japan and India Major Drivers
  • What are the LTE take-up rates, globally? Most countries around the world are going through the early phase of LTE deployment, offering LTE coverage in selected cities and urban areas before expanding to other places. Some countries have a slower take-up rate and are concentrating on strenghtening their 3G coverage and expect 4G LTE to be a longer term strategy. Juniper Research, a research company covering the hi-tech communications sector, published the 4G LTE: Subscribers, Smartphones, Base Stations & Service Revenue 2014-2019, in which it estimates 4G LTE to grow to 1 billion connections in 2017 and 1.8 billion by 2019. It expects these figures to make up 22% of global active mobile SIM connections by that time.

  • According to Juniper, solution providers in the 4G LTE segment will benefit from the rapid deployments in the 4G as service providers continue investing to expand their networks over the next 5 years. 

  • The report also highlighted that TD-LTE (Time Division LTE - using unpaired spectrum) will play a significant role in driving the LTE expansion with China, Japan and India being the major drivers in deployment. The announcement of a joint infrastructure company by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom is another key development in this area, as Far East and China is expected to account for the majority of the 4G LTE service revenues by 2019. Another key point in the report is that nearly 1 in 3 smartphones shipped this year will be LTE enabled, a trend that is expected to continue growing in the near term. The GSA (Global Mobile Suppliers Association) confirmed that 168 manufacturers have announced 1,889 LTE-enabled user devices, including operator and frequency variants, along with 300 commercial network launches, added Juniper in its statement. 

TD-LTE will play a significant role, especially in the emerging markets, pushed by China Mobile's need to support TD-LTE and accelerate its commercial deployment in China. There are 36 commercial TD-LTE networks and we expect active TD-LTE connections to demonstrate a higher annual growth rate when compared to FD-LTE (Frequency Division) over the next five years"

-  Nitin Bhas, Report Author

Author

Executive Editor and Telecoms Strategist at The Fast Mode | 5G | IoT/M2M | Telecom Strategy | Mobile Service Innovations 

Tara Neal heads the strategy & editorial unit at The Fast Mode, focusing on latest technologies such as gigabit broadband, 5G, cloud-native networking, edge computing, virtualization, software-defined networking and network automation as well as broader telco segments such as IoT/M2M, CX, OTT services and network security. Tara holds a First Class Honours in BSc Accounting and Finance from The London School of Economics, UK and is a CFA charterholder from the CFA Institute, United States. Tara has over 22 years of experience in technology and business strategy, and has earlier served as project director for technology and economic development projects in various management consulting firms.

Follow Tara Neal on Twitter @taraneal11, LinkedIn @taraneal11, Facebook or email her at tara.neal@thefastmode.com.

PREVIOUS POST

OTT TV Ad Revenue to Reach $40 billion by 2020

NEXT POST

On-Demand Services To Rise in 2015, IoT/M2M to Grow Further, Says Smartcom