Is TD-LTE losing momentum?

The Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI), founded by China Mobile, Bharti Airtel, SoftBank and other mobile network operators, today said the number of TD-LTE base stations around the world will hit 800,000 in 2014.

Is TD-LTE restricting itself to China?

Earlier, China Mobile President Li Yue said the telecoms will set up 500,000 base stations across 340 cities in China by the end of this year. Some of these BTS will be converged ones. This means that the rest 300,000 will be set up by other TD-LTE operators such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, SoftBank, etc. But two Indian telecom operators are planning to construct converged FDD/TDD base stations.

The objective of GTI is to promote TD-LTE technology. But there are limited takers at present. Some of the Indian telecoms including Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel are considering 4G launch on FD-LTE technology on its 1800 MHz spectrum band as well. This will put additional pressure on less developed TD-LTE.

Airtel is already re-thinking on its 4G strategy after achieving just 100,000 LTE users on TD-LTE technology in four circles with limited launch.

Multi-mode 4G phones from LG will land in India soon. In fact. LG is showcasing its 4G phones in Delhi NCR during its tech chow on Monday.

The association said TD-LTE will be covering 3 billion people this year. It does not predict the number of users on TD-LTE platform in 2014.

GSMA earlier said 4G LTE subscriber base will pass one billion by 2017 — driven by India and China. GSMA does not share the break up between TD-LTE and FD-LTE.

According to a 2012 forecast by Yankee Group, China, India, Europe, the U.S. will boast more than 134 million TD-LTE connections by 2016. Yankee also said China will have 106 million TD-LTE devices by 2016.

TD-LTE to lose momentum

The year 2013 was not good for TD-LTE.

ABI Research on 27 February said LTE subscriptions reached 229.7 million in 2013. TD-LTE, a technology used by telecom operator like Airtel, accounted for 5 percent of the global LTE market, while 94.2 percent of the LTE market was taken up by FD-LTE in 2013.

Also read: LTE 4G subscriber base reaches 230 million in 2013, says ABI Research

GTI says it is expected that 150 million TD-LTE terminals will be sold this year. China Mobile earlier said it plans to buy more than 100 million LTE terminals and promote smartphones supporting 5 modes and 12 or more bands. This indicates that 50 million TD-LTE devices will be sold in TD-LTE markets excluding China.

GTI has 73 partners and 100 operator members. There are already 28 commercial TD-LTE networks in the world, and more than 40 operator members are planning to set up TD-LTE networks in their countries.

Recently, GTI showcased 5-mode 13-band terminals in collaboration with its industry partners. China Mobile will offer more models of 5-mode 10-band terminals priced at $100-150 to lower the cost of 4G terminals. Now, China Mobile is cooperating with Orange on a model of TDD/FDD converged smartphone supporting most global communications standards and frequency bands and available for NFC.

Is there a bright future for TD-LTE? China Mobile’s 4G projects will drive the eco-system.

Baburajan K
[email protected]