Latin America. According to the latest report from 5G Americas, LTE connections globally reached the milestone of 2.5 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. There was an increase of 838 million LTE subscriptions in the year ending September 2017, according to Ovum data.
LTE's global market share reaches 32 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2017, an increase of nearly 10 percent in one year. The North America region continued to lead the world with an LTE market share of 73 percent, surpassing all other regions of the world. Latin America exhibited sustained growth, with LTE market share rising to 26 percent.
"While the global wireless industry is working on preparations for the future 5G, operators are currently deploying more advanced LTE capabilities, and LTE subscriptions continue to grow at a fantastic rate," said Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas.
There continue to be new LTE deployments with many network upgrades from LTE to LTE-Advanced. As of mid-November, there were 562 commercial deployments around the world, and 211 of those carriers had already evolved to LTE-Advanced (TeleGeography).
Q3 2017 – North America
The North America region reached 341 million LTE subscriptions at the end of September 2017, with some of the highest penetration rates, widest coverage, and the largest LTE market share worldwide. LTE achieved a penetration rate of 94 percent in the third quarter, with 341 million connections in a population of 362 million in North America. This penetration rate compares with the next two highest penetration regions, Oceania and East and Southeast Asia, with 58 percent, and Western Europe, with 57 percent. LTE penetration in North America is projected to exceed 100 percent in 2018.
In addition to having a significantly higher penetration rate, the United States and Canada also have the largest market share in LTE, compared to all other mobile wireless technologies, at 73 percent, versus Oceania, East Asia and Southeast Asia at 52 percent, and Western Europe, which exhibits 42 percent. Market share represents the percentage of mobile wireless connections that are LTE technology versus all other mobile technologies.
- 341 million connections
- LTE is projected to reach 456 million connections by the end of 2021 (including M2M)
- 34.9 million 5G connections planned for 2021 – nearly 31 percent of global 5G connections
Q3 2017 - Latin America and the Caribbean
"LTE continues to be the fastest growing mobile technology ever deployed in Latin America," said José Otero, Director of 5G Americas for Latin America and the Caribbean. "Every country in the region except Cuba has at least one LTE service provider."
- As of Q3 2017, Latin America nearly doubled the number of LTE connections to 179 million, up from 99 million the year before, an increase of 80 percent. LTE's market share increased from 14 to 26 percent in twelve months.
- 691 million total mobile wireless subscriptions
- 179 million LTE connections; 80 million new LTE connections added since Q3 2016
- LTE market share of 26 percent
- LTE projected to reach nearly 200 million connections by the end of 2017 (including M2M)
- By the end of 2021, LTE is projected to reach 458 million connections (including M2M) and a 59 percent market share.
Otero also pointed out that "the actions on the part of Latin American governments, such as the granting of new spectrum to mobile operators and the approval of operations in the secondary spectrum market, as well as the re-farming of spectrum carried out by operators have contributed to the healthy growth of LTE. With more than 25 percent of the region's total subscribers employing LTE, we are confident that the next step in network evolution will be an increase in the number of operators launching Carrier Aggregation to increase the speeds offered through their LTE networks."
As of mid-November, there were 108 commercial LTE networks throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region, of which 20 are LTE-Advanced deployments with Carrier Aggregation (TeleGeography).
Q3 2017 - Global
- Globally, LTE is projected to continue its momentum to grow to 3 billion in 2018 and reach 4.9 billion connections in 2022.
- 2.5 billion LTE connections out of a total of 838 million new LTE subscriptions compared to Q3 2016; a growth of 49 percent
- LTE market share of 32 percent
- LTE connections forecast to reach 4.8 billion by the end of 2021 (including M2M)
- Global LTE market share forecast to reach 53 percent by the end of 2021
- 5G forecast to reach 111 million connections by the end of 2021
Ovum's global forecast shows LTE outperforming all other technologies in 2018, to become the most popular technology, with a total of 3.16 billion LTE connections, 41.6 percent penetration and 38 percent market share. LTE connections will sit at nearly 5 billion, with 62 percent penetration as of December 2022, according to the projection.
