The total global shipment of 4G LTE connected devices will reach 676 million in 2015, growing 204 million units from 2014, according to ABI Research. The leading market research firm estimates that the number of LTE connected devices will almost triple (1.89 billion units) by 2019.
ABI noted that the steep growth in end user smart devices which will subsequently increase the amount of bandwidth and connection required in the network will drive the need for infrastructure and spectrum. Due to demand for higher data speeds, FDD/TDD LTE carrier aggregation trials have sprouted with commercial launches by many operators across the globe. ABI also said that the growing demand for data emphasizes the need for refarming of unused spectrum to support the bandwidth required.
Jake Saunders, VP and Practice Director for 4G/5G
While commercial devices supporting FDD/TDD carrier aggregation will only debut in 2015, this has not deterred global operators like Vodafone from rolling out LTE-Advanced technology using carrier aggregation to supplement its existing LTE mobile services.
Cheri Wong, Research Analyst at ABI Research
With the proliferation of larger screen smart devices driving up the insatiable appetites for content and faster speeds, ABI Research estimates that there will be 350 commercial LTE networks forecasted by 4Q 2014.
