{"id":5019,"date":"2013-11-26T08:03:45","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T08:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/?p=5019"},"modified":"2015-05-13T11:22:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T11:22:00","slug":"gsma-intelligence-one-billion-lte-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/gsma-intelligence-one-billion-lte-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"GSMA INTELLIGENCE STUDY PREDICTS ONE BILLION LTE CONNECTIONS BY 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

LTE to Account for One in Eight Global Mobile Connections by 2017; LTE Users Consume Twice as Much Data as Non-LTE Users, Contribute to ARPU Uplift<\/em><\/p>\n

London<\/strong>: The number of 4G-LTE connections worldwide is forecast to pass one billion by 2017, according to a new study by GSMA Intelligence. By 2017, it is expected that LTE will account for about one in eight of the more than eight billion total mobile connections forecast by that point, up from 176 million LTE connections at the end of 2013. Nearly 500 LTE networks1<\/sup> are forecast to be in service across 128 countries, roughly double the number of live LTE networks today. <\/p>\n

“Since the launch of the first commercial 4G-LTE networks in late 2009 we are seeing deployments accelerate across the globe,” commented Hyunmi Yang, Chief Strategy Officer at the GSMA. “Our new report highlights a number of factors that are driving LTE growth: the timely allocation of suitable spectrum to mobile operators; the availability of affordable LTE devices; and the implementation of innovative tariffs that encourage adoption of high-speed data services. Mobile operators in both developed and developing markets are seeing LTE services contributing to a significant increase in ARPU.” <\/p>\n

The study calculates that about 20 per cent of the global population is currently within LTE network coverage range. As operators continue to expand LTE coverage over the next few years, it is forecast that LTE networks will be available to half of the world’s population by 2017. In the United States, LTE networks already cover more than 90 per cent of the population, compared to 47 per cent population coverage in Europe and 10 per cent in Asia. <\/p>\n

The United States currently accounts for almost half (46 per cent) of global LTE connections; the United States, South Korea and Japan combined account for 80 per cent of the LTE total today. However, Asia is expected to account for almost half (47 per cent) of all LTE connections by 2017, as LTE networks are rolled out in major markets such as China and India. Half of total mobile connections in South Korea are now running on LTE networks \u2013 compared to 20 per cent in Japan and the United States \u2013 making South Korea the most advanced LTE market worldwide. <\/p>\n

The study also found that: <\/p>\n