Items Tagged with 'subscribers'

ABI Research estimates that there will be nearly 1.37 billion 4G LTE subscribers worldwide by year-end 2015, up from nearly 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 a new market data forecasts from ABI Research, it will take more than 5 years for 5G to reach 100 million subscriber mark—2 years longer than 4G. 4G subscriber growth was much faster than with previous generations, fueled by the capabilities of increasingly powerful smartphones and the availability of 4G devices. 5G subscriber growth will likely be a bit more muted at first due to the increased complexity of 5G cells and networks, but will pick up in 2023.

 The growing appetite for on-the-go, real-time information and mobile entertainment services will see the total number of subscribers for 4G LTE and 4.5G LTE-Advanced grow to nearly 411 million and 22 million respectively by year-end 2014. ABI Research’s 4G network deployment tracker anticipates that 45 networks will have commercially launched LTE-Advanced by 4Q 2014.  

Worldwide LTE-related subscriptions reached 229.7 million in 2013, and will continually grow at a CAGR of 43.6% between 2013 and 2019, to exceed 2 billion. By the end of 2013, LTE-TDD subscribers accounted for 5% of the LTE market, while 94.2% of the LTE market was taken up by LTE-FDD.

By end-2018, half the African population will be covered by LTE networks, as LTE base station deployment swells at a CAGR of 40% over the next five years, finds ABI Research.

Thailand's bustling population of 67 million has reportedly reached a mobile penetration rate of more than 130 percent, according to recent government figures. In early 2013, Ericsson ConsumerLab studies have also shown that smartphone penetration in urban Thailand grew more than two-fold from 17 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2013. 

Yota launched the first LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network in Russia last October; however, with the first compatible handset, SK Telecom was the earliest to make the technology commercially available in June 2013. Within two weeks, the South Korean operator has already claimed over 150,000 subscriptions, roughly 0.6% of its total.

In 4Q-2012, the LTE subscription in Asia-Pacific has increased by 60.92 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), reaching 34.6 million. ABI Research expects that the LTE subscription market will continue to grow rapidly in 2013 to reach 72.1 million. “The operators in South Korea have aggressively promoted LTE since launch.

The African cellular market is very much pulling in the subscribers. In 3Q-2012, the 54 countries and 1.08 billion people have accumulated 821 million subscriptions, up 16.9% year-on-year, resulting in a cellular subscription penetration of 76.4%. In the first quarter of 2013, cellular penetration will eclipse 80%. Given the fact that a significant percentage of prepaid users maintain more than one active prepaid subscription to minimize interconnection charges, there is still subscriber growth to be had.

In monitoring the early progress of LTE, many industry insiders closely watch countries where mobile operators are aggressively deploying new networks, and offering commercial LTE devices and services. In South Korea, the United States, and Japan, the number of LTE subscribers surpassed that of WiMAX subscribers in 4Q11, 1Q12, and 2Q12, respectively. The findings are part of new market data from market intelligence firm ABI Research detailing the mobile broadband transition.