Global mobile broadband subscriptions have passed the 2 billion milestone, according to newly published statistics from GSA.
There were 126.1 million LTE subscriptions (Q2 2013) and this figure was expected to have topped 150 million by the end of September 2013.
There are currently 222 commercially launched LTE networks in 83 countries, rising to 260 commercial LTE networks by the end of the year.
Some other numbers from the report:
- 23 commercially launched TD-LTE networks in 18 countries, of which 11 are dual mode FDD + TDD systems. More trials are underway. There are 274 LTE TDD devices on the market.
- LTE-Advanced is a commercial reality already with several networks in South Korea using carrier aggregation.
- The first wave of VoLTE service launches that include support for HD voice (using W-AMR) has begun. Many operators have committed to VoLTE deployments or trials in 2013-2014 including KT, LG U+, SK Telecom, Evolve Broadband, T Mobile Austria, Azercell, Sasktel, China Mobile, E Plus, O2 DE, CSL Limited, Bharti Airtel, RIL, NTT DoCoMo, Tele2 NL, Yota, StarHub, Telekom Slovenije, Tele2 SE, Etisalat UAE, AT&T, C-Spire, MetroPCS, US Cellular, Sprint, Verizon Wireless.
- 55% of phones sold in Q3 2013 were smartphones, compared to 50% in Q1 2013.
- 80% growth in data traffic between Q3 2012 and Q3 2013 driven mainly by video.
The full report is online.
