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Informa Telecoms and Media Reports North America LTE SubscriptionsDec 10, 2012 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- LTE connections in North America rocketed to 22.3 million -- adding almost 19 million subscriptions in 12 months and representing 51 percent of all 43.7 million LTE connections worldwide at the end of the third quarter of 2012, reported 4G Americas, according to data from Informa Telecoms and Media. "The 2012 year in wireless is definitely all about LTE," said Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas, in a release. "At the third quarter of last year, there were 4.5 million LTE connections and 36 LTE deployments worldwide. We expect about 130 commercial LTE networks by the end of this year, the ramping up of subscriptions and many new devices in the offering with the holiday season approaching." Aggressive deployments of LTE networks continue on a global basis, with 128 commercial LTE networks in 58 countries to date, and subscriptions at the end of the third quarter 2012 at 43.7 million. While HSPA and HSPA+ will remain the leading mobile broadband technology for the next decade, LTE is clearly the growth phenomenon. Informa expects that LTE subscriptions will surpass 1 billion in the year 2018. The following global statistics were reported at the end of the 3Q 2012: -6.4 billion total cellular connections -5.8 billion 3GPP subscriptions (90 percent market share) -1 billion HSPA-LTE mobile broadband subscriptions -478 commercial HSPA networks in 181 countries -242 HSPA+ networks in 119 countries -43.7 million LTE subscriptions -128 commercial LTE networks in 58 countries Key regional statistics for the 3GPP family of technologies at the end of 3Q 2012: Western Hemisphere - All Americas -828 million 3GPP subscriptions; nearly 80 percent market share -220 million HSPA mobile broadband subscriptions; quarterly addition of 10 million subscribers -242 million HSPA-LTE subscriptions; annual addition (12 months) of 79 million subscriptions for 48 percent annual growth North America - U.S. and Canada -180.7 million 3GPP subscriptions; 49 percent market share -139 million HSPA-LTE mobile broadband subscriptions; annual addition of 40 million connections -T-Mobile USA deployment of HSPA+ dual carrier at 42 Mbps (peak theoretical) -No. 1 in LTE subscriptions: 22.3 million LTE connections; quarterly addition of 6.9 million LTE connections -LTE connections are expected to surpass HSPA connections in 2016 -19 commercial LTE networks launched to date, including Bell Mobility and Rogers Wireless in Canada and AT&T, MetroPCS, Sprint and Verizon with affiliates in the U.S. -200+ million LTE connections forecast by 2017 (Informa Telecoms and Media) Latin America and Caribbean -647 million 3GPP subscriptions; 96 percent market share; annual addition of 64 million connections; quarterly addition of 15 million subscriptions -103 million HSPA connections; annual addition of 38.6 million subscriptions; quarterly addition of 7 million subscriptions -46 commercial HSPA+ networks in 26 countries to date -38 operators in 15 countries have committed to LTE deployment -8 commercial LTE networks launched to date; in Brazil (Sky Telecom), Colombia (UNE), Mexico (Telcel), Dominican Republic (Orange), Puerto Rico (AT&T, Claro, Open Mobile) and Uruguay (Antel) 4G Americas is an industry trade organization. 4G Americas' Board of Governors members include: Alcatel-Lucent, America Movil, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, CommScope, Entel, Ericsson, Gemalto, HP, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks, Openwave Mobility, Powerwave, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Rogers, T-Mobile USA and Telefonica. Informa Telecoms and Media conducts research on the latest trends impacting the mobile communications, fixed communications and TV sectors. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |