Digital Lifescapes

4G Americas announced that LTE mobile network connections in North America reached 3.3 million -- representing 87 percent of all 3.8 million LTE connections worldwide, according to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media . This puts the U.S. and Canada in the number one position as global leaders in LTE subscriptions. "The early deployment of LTE in the United States and Canada has put the region in a leadership position worldwide," stated Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. "It is also one of the key reasons why securing additional spectrum is a requirement for continued mobile broadband progress in serving both consumer and business customers while increasing our much-needed economic development in North America." Without additional spectrum in the region, however, the leadership position will inevitably fall. It is already expected that by 2013 the Asia Pacific region will surpass North America in LTE subscriptions. In Latin America, ...

3GPP mobile broadband technology (UMTS-HSPA) grew by 11.9 million new subscriptions, of the total (net) 16.3 million mobile subscriptions added in the second quarter 2010 throughout the Americas, according to the latest report from 3G Americas . 3GPP represented 73 percent of the total (net) new connections in the mobile industry in North, Central and South America in the second quarter. "The Americas was the world's fastest-growing region for UMTS-HSPA subscriptions in the year ending June 2010 and helped the technology break through the half-billion milestone to reach 535 million subscriptions worldwide during the second quarter, representing 11 percent of total global mobile subscriptions, up from 9 percent in the second quarter of 2009," said Mike Roberts, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. Only GSM and UMTS-HSPA realized new subscription gains in the Western Hemisphere during the second quarter. GSM added close to 7 million new connections, whil...

Based on data provided by Informa Telecoms & Media , 3G Americas reported that the Latin America and Caribbean region had over 447 million total GSM-HSPA subscriptions as of third quarter of 2009. There were 119 GSM operators serving every country in the region, with 73 million new GSM-HSPA subscriptions added in the year ending September 2009. The uptake of UMTS-HSPA mobile broadband technology is evidenced by its growth -- from fewer than 28,000 subscriptions in September 2007, up to 2.5 million by September 2008, and totaling nearly 12 million in September 2009 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Erasmo Rojas, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for 3G Americas, says "The number of UMTS-HSPA subscriptions in Latin America grew by 9.4 million in 12 months -- an amazing 380 percent annual growth rate. Clearly, a strong HSPA footprint exists in the region today with 50 commercial networks in 23 countries." Eva Benguigui, Senior Research Analyst at Informa, added ...