4G LTE Mobile has Reached 635 Million Connections

The ongoing adoption of 4G LTE mobile network deployment continues to rapidly accelerate, with nearly 635 million total connections worldwide as of the first quarter of 2015 -- that's a 151 percent increase year-over-year according to Ovum research.

North America led the world by increasing its LTE market share to 44 percent -- compared to a global market share for LTE of 9 percent. Latin America led the world in the growth rate of LTE connections with an impressive 396 percent growth increase year-over-year.

North America Market Development

LTE has a 44 percent share of market of all mobile wireless connections in North America -- this compares to the next highest ranking regions, Western Europe at 16 percent and Asia Pacific at 13 percent. Penetration of LTE in North America is at 50 percent compared to Western Europe at 21 percent and Asia Pacific at 14 percent.

"North America continues to prove its leadership in LTE with metrics such as population coverage, share of market and penetration," said Chris Pearson, president of 4G Americas. "This foreshadows the future of mobile broadband in the Americas and the important influence that LTE carries as it helps lay the foundation for 5G in 2020 and beyond."

LTE-Advanced is now being deployed by mobile network operators in North America, offering performance and spectral advantages through Carrier Aggregation and customer benefits such as improved data speeds.

• 68 commercial LTE networks deployed in U.S. and Canada
• 180 million LTE connections as of March 2015; net gain of 66 million new LTE subscribers during the last 12 months
• LTE connections are forecast to reach 345 million by year-end 2019
• 109 million HSPA and HSPA+ connections with 26 percent market share

Global Market Development

LTE has been commercialized on 418 networks across 142 countries today. Mobile network operators are beginning to evolve to LTE-Advanced which is already commercialized on 67 networks in 39 countries across the globe.

With such vast deployments of LTE, it will not be long before we are counting subscriptions in the billions. Ovum estimates that we will reach a billion LTE connections in 2016, only seven years since the first launch of LTE in 2009.

• 418 commercial LTE networks today in 142 countries
• Over 600 total commitments to LTE deployment by wireless operators to date
• 497 million LTE connections at the end of 2014; 635 million as of March 2015
• LTE connections are forecast to reach 2.5 billion by year-end 2019
• 67 LTE-Advanced commercial networks in 39 countries