Despite the challenging macro economic environment, mobile operators are investing in LTE networks while slowing down spending on the 2G/3G mobile Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment, according to a new Mobile RAN Quarterly report from Dell’Oro Group. Some highlights:
- LTE RAN revenues up more than 160 percent versus 1Q11
- There were more than 60 commercial LTE networks at the end of 1Q12
- There were 15 million LTE subscriptions at the end of 1Q12, up 70 percent Q/Q
- TDD LTE markets have been commercialized in Japan.
The report also reveals that Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent maintained the first and second spots in LTE revenue share while sales to Softbank Mobile’s Wireless City Planning drove Huawei and ZTE into the first two spots in LTE TDD. It also shows that Samsung and NEC had the largest quarterly LTE revenue share increases. The report further discusses the near-term outlook for mobile RAN spend and the drivers of change in allocation across regions and technologies for 2012.
“With an LTE tablet that can be used by two-thirds of the US population, operators around the world are looking to the US as an example of the potential opportunities that can be realized with the combination of a high performance network, rich eco-system of popular devices, and price plans that promote the shift to LTE,“ said Stefan Pongratz, Senior Analyst at Dell’Oro Group. “And it is pretty clear at this point that the success story is spreading. There are now more than 80 countries committed to LTE. While 80 percent of the revenues in 1Q12 came from North America, Japan, and South Korea, this will clearly change in the future as more countries are awarded licenses to deploy LTE,” continued Pongratz.
