4G Americas Reports 300 LTE Networks Worldwide

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwired - Jun 16, 2014) - LTE is now commercial on 300 networks in 107 countries, adding 109 new commercial networks year-over-year since June 2013, with 350 commercial LTE networks anticipated by the end of 2014, as reported today by 4G Americas, a wireless trade association representing the 3GPP family of technologies, including LTE and LTE-Advanced. Additionally, LTE-Advanced is now commercially deployed on 9 networks in 7 countries worldwide, with those numbers expected to reach 40 networks by year-end 2014.

"In five years, since the first launch of LTE by TeliaSonera in 2009, there has been explosive growth in LTE network deployments as the entire ecosystem -- operators, vendors and stakeholders combined -- progress the technology," commented Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. "As LTE becomes the foundation of the wireless landscape, LTE-Advanced is the evolutionary step for increased speed and network capacity. We are beginning to see activity around LTE-Advanced including initial launches and devices."

Key facts regarding global LTE deployments:

• 500 total commitments to LTE deployments by mobile operators to date
• LTE connections are forecast to surpass 2.3 billion by 2020 (Informa Telecoms & Media WCIS+)
• 23 LTE-TDD and 264 LTE-FDD networks, with an additional 23 networks with both LTE-TDD and FDD
• 10 radio spectrum bands used for LTE today ranging from 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz
• The number of commercial LTE networks and subscriptions in world regions are:

	Region		Commercial LTE Networks		# LTE Connections Millions / Market Share
	Europe (East and Western)		115		39.8  / 14%
	Asia Pacific		54		103.6  / 37%
	U.S. and Canada		49		125.8  / 45%
	Latin America & Caribbean		40		3.6  / > 1%
	Africa		23		1.9 / < 1%
	Middle East		19		2.9 / 1%
	TOTAL		300		277.6 Million

Although Europe has risen to the top with the most LTE commercial networks deployed, North America remains in the leadership position of LTE subscriptions worldwide with 45 percent of the world's 278 million LTE connections at the end of May 2014 (Informa Telecoms & Media estimates).