ABI Research, a leading market intelligence company specializing in global technology markets via its Mobile Carrier Strategies and LTE Research Services, cited in its recent report that out of 470 LTE commitments tracked, 193 have gone commercial with another 123 expected to do the same over the next 2 years.
"LTE subscriptions for the initial 8 quarters (4Q-2010 to 3Q-2012) have outstripped WCDMA (1Q-2003 to 4Q-2004) both in terms of growth-rate and absolute numbers (47.5m LTE versus 18.3m). Given the number of LTE commitments and support from the handset vendors, 2013 should prove to be a year that delivers a strong adoption profile for LTE carriers, with anticipated 183m subscriptions by year-end. These robust subscriber acquisitions are translating into service revenue of $73.8 billion in 2013, and $530.5 billion by 2018."
“By 2018, LTE deployments should deliver population coverage of 57% (4.2 billion) and 31% (2.3 billion) in legacy WCDMA and CDMA2000 markets respectively. Significantly, LTE-TDD coverage should achieve 49% population coverage by the end of the five year period,” says Jake Saunders, VP – core forecasting at ABI Research."
