The total number of subscribers for 4G LTE and 4.5G LTE-Advanced will grow to nearly 411 million and 22 million, respectively, this year, said ABI Research.
4G growth drivers for this year will be demand for real-time information and mobile entertainment services.
45 telecom networks will have commercially launched LTE-Advanced by Q4 2014. Over 337 of the world’s mobile networks had already deployed 4G LTE in Q2 2014.
LTE-Advanced has gained traction in regions like North America and Asia-Pacific, with Western Europe trailing slightly behind in subscriber numbers.
A significant percentage of mobile device shipments will still be to new LTE subscribers in 2014. Nearly 482 million LTE handsets will be shipped in 2014, up by nearly 150 million units from the previous year and expects that number will grow to 1.34 billion by the end of 2019.
Global LTE network coverage is expected to cover more than 30 percent of the world’s population by the end of 2014.
“Carrier aggregation (CA) is the most important feature of LTE-Advanced, which helps mobile carriers to utilize all spectrum resources to increase data rates. In France, Bouygues Telecom first utilized CA to launch LTE-Advanced in six cities in mid-June, 2014, while Orange France and SFR also announced they will commercially deploy LTE-Advanced,” said Marina Lu, research analyst at ABI Research.
Globally, among the recently completed and near-term 4G spectrum auctions, about three-quarters of upcoming 4G spectrum auctions will take place in Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa.
To date, most of the mobile carriers in Europe and developed countries of Asia-Pacific and Middle East have already secured 4G spectrum.
Jake Saunders, VP and practice director, ABI Research, said: “A major spectrum auction of 1,700 MHz and 2,100 MHz will take place in the United States in November 2014. Competition is expecting to be robust between the major United Sates carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless, etc.”
