Skip to main content

4G LTE Mobile Subscribers will Exceed 2 Billion by 2019

By the end of 2013, global LTE-related cellular subscriptions had surpassed 230.9 million -- that's 3.3 percent of all mobile subscribers worldwide -- and will continue to grow at a CAGR of 36.6 percent between 2014 and 2019, to exceed 2 billion.

Mobile internet usage isn't the only market driver. The extensive presence of 4G LTE networks is also stimulating the deployment of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technologies.

By the end of 2014, there are expected to be 59.6 million VoLTE subscriptions in place, and it's forecast that nearly 56 percent of LTE-related cellular subscriptions will be using VoLTE services by the end of 2019, according to the latest market study by ABI Research.

For VoLTE to be a success, there needs to be widespread adoption of the technology by mobile handset vendors and not just the mobile network operators.

"There are some promising signs, though -- it is anticipated that Apple will incorporate VoLTE into iPhone 6," said Marina Lu, research analyst at ABI Research.

The strong subscriber adoption in 2013 has correlated with strong LTE-enabled handsets shipments, equivalent to 335.4 million units in 2013 -- that's up by 222 percent year-on-year.

LTE is not just stimulating the sale of LTE-enabled handsets but also LTE-enabled tablets and USB dongles. This has been sustained by the growing popularity of shared-data plans and better LTE network coverage.

In 2014, LTE-enabled media tablets are expected to ship 12.8 million units annually along with 10.6 million USB dongle units.

Mobile network operators have continued to invest significantly in 4G LTE infrastructure, which is forecast to cover around 64 percent of the world’s population by 2019.

Early LTE roll-out can confer first mover advantage. In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korean operators have used LTE to boost profit margins (9.4 percent higher than normal). China Mobile is pinning its hopes on LTE-TDD to help it catch up with its competitors in mobile broadband services.

In the United Kingdom, the mobile service provider Everything Everywhere has gained four times as many LTE subscribers as the nearest competitor in that market.

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year

Open Banking Usage to Grow by 470 Percent

The Open Banking business model has been advantageous for Third-Party Providers (TPPs), helping them to extend their offerings into other areas of financial services with new capabilities. Open Banking is also advantageous for traditional banking institutions, despite the perceived loss of custodianship over their data, by providing greater accessibility to more bank services. Furthermore, Open Banking can help serve Mobile Internet providers that are able to leverage it to create tailored services according to customers’ preferences and/or economic limitations. Open Banking Market Development Since traditional banking services are made more convenient by TPPs via greater data access, customers can proactively manage their finances and shape the development of new financial offerings. This is particularly noticeable in the realm of Digital Payments, where retail merchants and customers transact through eCommerce, which has the greatest number of use cases for Open Banking. These includ