The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reports that almost 200 operators are now investing in LTE. The report confirms 140 firm operator commitments to deploy commercial LTE systems in 56 countries. The number of committed operators is 118% higher than one year ago. A further 56 pre-commitment trials have been identified. Taken together, the report confirms 196 operators in 75 countries are currently investing in LTE. The report covers both LTE FDD and LTE TDD modes.
Seventeen operators have commercially launched LTE networks, in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, Poland, Sweden, USA, and Uzbekistan.
GSA has raised its market outlook and now anticipates that at least 73 LTE networks will be in commercial service by end 2012.
The regional breakdown of 140 firm operator commitments to deploy is as follows:
- Americas = 29 networks
- Europe = 64 networks
- MEA = 14 networks
- APAC/Oceania = 33 networks
In addition, GSA notes that a total of 98 LTE-capable user devices were confirmed launched in the market by 35 suppliers.http://www.gsacom.com
