According to global long term evolution (LTE) industry body, 4G Americas, the global 4G LTE subscriber base increased from 75 million in 2012 to 157.7 million at the end of September 2013, witnessing an increase of 110 per cent.
Out of the total LTE users, 66 million LTE subscriptions were in Asia and 79 million in North America. The industry body expects the number of LTE users to reach 1 billion by early 2018. Currently, globally, there are 233 commercial LTE networks while 250 commercial LTE networks are expected to be deployed by end-2013. In North America, at the end of the third quarter of 2013, the LTE subscriber base represented 21 per cent of the total 378 million LTE subscribers in the region. North America continues to be leader in the LTE market accounting for with 50 per cent of the world?s 157.7 million LTE subscribers in September 2013.
4G Americas further states that in Latin America, the LTE and HSPA mobile broadband market share increased by 24 per cent accounting for 168 million subscribers of the total 700 million subscribers. About 509 million GSM subscribers are in the process of adopting mobile broadband technology. At the end of the third quarter in 2013, Latin America registered 59.1 million new HSPA and HSPA+ subscribers. In North America, HSPA and HSPA+ reported addition of 1.4 million new subscribers for the quarter under review and 7.8 million subscribers on a year-over-year basis with a market share of 34 per cent. The combined market share for LTE and HSPA mobile broadband technologies in the region stood at 55 per cent.
