4G Americas reports that LTE continues to rapidly accelerate with nearly 755 million total connections worldwide as of the second quarter of 2015; a 141 percent increase year-over-year according to Ovum research. North America continues to lead the world by increasing its high ranking in LTE market share to 47.5 percent compared to the rising global market share for LTE of 10 percent. Latin America boasted the highest growth rate of LTE connections among the world regions with an impressive 324 percent growth increase year-over-year.
North America
“North America continued its tremendous leadership in LTE with metrics such as coverage, share of market and penetration,” commented Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. “Network operators in the region continue to expand and upgrade their LTE and LTE-Advanced networks, including deployment of VoLTE, carrier aggregation and other important enhancements.”
LTE has a 47.5 percent share of market within all mobile wireless connections in North America; this compares to the next highest ranking regions, Western Europe at 19 percent and Oceania, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia at 16.25 percent. Penetration of LTE in North America increased to 55 percent compared to Western Europe at 24 percent and Oceania, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia at 17 percent (penetration represents the number of LTE connections as a percentage of the population). North America exceeds all other world regions.
LTE-Advanced is now being deployed across operators’ footprints in North America, offering performance and capacity improvements.
- 68 commercial LTE networks deployed in U.S. and Canada, plus 7 LTE-Advanced networks
- 198 million LTE connections as of June 2015; net gain of 65 million new LTE subscribers during the last 12 months
- LTE connections are forecast to reach 206 million by year-end 2015 and nearly 400 million by year-end 2020
Latin America and the Caribbean
The Latin America region added 17 million new LTE connections over twelve months, ending the quarter with a total of 22.5 million subscriptions and a growth rate that is the highest of all the world regions at 324 percent in June 2015.
The market continues to shift as GSM subscribers move to HSPA and HSPA+, and likewise, HSPA subscribers continue to migrate to LTE. GSM declined by 66 million connections, and HSPA gained 68 million connections. Market shares in Latin America and the Caribbean were: GSM at 54 percent, HSPA at 41 percent and LTE at 3 percent.
“LTE continues to grow at a rapid pace in Latin America with new network launches being announced almost every month,” stated Jose Otero, 4G Americas Director of Latin America and the Caribbean. “The announcements by various governments of their intentions to allocate more spectrum for the offering of mobile broadband helps to provide a brighter outlook for LTE growth in Latin America.”
- 70 commercial LTE networks in 28 countries; 52 in Latin America and 18 in the Caribbean
- 22.5 million LTE connections as of June 2015; net gain of 17 million new LTE subscribers during the last 12 months
- LTE connections are forecast to reach 29 million by year-end 2015 and 259 million by year-end 2020
- 299 million HSPA and HSPA+ connections, 23 million added in 2Q; 68 million in 12 months ending in June 2015
LTE and LTE-Advanced Global
LTE connections more than doubled from 314 million in June 2014 adding 441 million new subscriptions and growth of 141 percent worldwide in twelve months ending in June 2015. LTE has been commercialized on 425 networks across 145 countries today. Operators are beginning to evolve to LTE-Advanced which is already commercialized on 88 networks in 45 countries across the globe. The number of LTE-Advanced networks increased by 21 networks in the last quarter alone, so indications are that enhancements such as carrier aggregation are being sought by operators around the world.
“The industry is focusing a lot of time and energy on 5G,” added Pearson. “However, LTE is the fastest growing mobile broadband technology on record and is expected to reach 3.6 billion connections worldwide by 2020 when 5G is expected to be launched.”
- 425 commercial LTE networks today in 145 countries
- 517 million LTE connections at the end of 2014; 775 million as of June 2015
- 88 LTE-Advanced commercial networks in 45 countries
- LTE connections are forecast to reach nearly 1 billion at the end of this year, 3 billion by year-end 2019 and 3.6 billion by year-end 2020 when LTE surpasses the number of HSPA connections
4G Americas maintains a current list of LTE Deployments in the Americas and LTE-Advanced Global Deployments on its website. For more information and to view a variety of statistical charts on the 3GPP family of technologies, visit www.4gamericas.org. All subscriber and forecast data is from Ovum.
