ABI Research estimates that there will be nearly 1.37 billion 4G LTE subscribers worldwide by the end of this year, up from 650 million in 2014. ABI Research forecasts that the LTE subscriber base will exceed 3.5 billion by 2020, demonstrating a 5 year CAGR of 20.8%. The exponential rise in LTE points-of-presence covered justifies the need for sustained investment in LTE infrastructure, which is expected to grow nearly 10% year-on-year.
According to ABI Research, major carriers in the United States are still investing heavily in LTE technology to consolidate their networks. Verizon Wireless is partnering with Ericsson to deploy small cells or micro-base stations to densify its network capabilities, with nearly US$500 million allocated for small cells deployment. Similarly, T-Mobile US is also partnering with Nokia Networks to explore small cell deployments that operate using the LTE-Unlicensed technology. The companies will jointly establish a pre-standards LTE-U solution which uses Nokia Flexi Zone with Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) functionality to provide additional LTE capacity and better network performance. T-Mobile US will also conduct joint trials with Ericsson on LAA technology or LTE-U in the 5.x GHz band later this year.
Elsewhere in Asia, small cells deployments are being considered by Singaporean Operators for enhancing surfing speeds in densely populated areas. The small cells, which are one-eighth the size of traditional base stations can be mounted on ceilings to ease data traffic when an area becomes too congested. Small cells were already deployed by Singaporean Operator, Singtel in the third quarter of last year with another two Operators on the island planning to do so by 2017.
Cheri Wong, Research Analyst, ABI Research
Operators can expect to improve their 4G service revenues by investing in small cell technology as users download more mobile data with faster surfing speeds.
