Users at large may not feel the urge to switch to 4G LTE yet, but the technology has gained unprecedented growth over the last three years. The subscriber base now includes nearly 100 million users worldwide. Current trends suggest that LTE subscriber base will hit 1 billion by 2016, according to IHS iSuppli.
In 2010, nearly 600,000 users subscribed to LTE networks. A year after (in 2011) the subscriber base rose to 13.2 million. Last year, the growth rate was even more aggressive – 599%.
A new report by IHS iSuppli suggests, the growth might slow down a bit this year, yet LTE subscriber base will double in 2013. By 2016, the LTE subscriber base will surpass the 1 billion mark.
But the journey won’t be without challenges, as iSuppli’s senior analyst for wireless communications and author of the report Wayne Lam pointed out. According to Lam, rapid adoption of LTE will drive innovation in the smartphone market, as well as on the infrastructure side. But, the fragmented spectrum space for LTE deployments will be a big issue. This could be a problem when interoperability and seamless roaming need to be ensured.
Lam predicted that the kinks and divisions in the LTE space won’t be of prime importance to LTE stakeholders; it would be “laying the foundation for sustained growth,” instead.
Thanks To: CNET
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