The number of LTE mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide has reached 250 million in the first quarter of 2014, according to global analyst firm Ovum.
Ovum’s latest update to the World Cellular Data Metrics, which tracks mobile data usage and take-up including subscribers, deployments, revenues, mobile broadband usage, and SMS/MMS/data traffic, showed that the US is the world’s largest LTE market, with the two leading US operators, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, accounting for 35% of global LTE subscriptions.
“Verizon ended 1Q14 with 47.9 million LTE subscriptions and AT&T ended with 38.4 million. There are seven operators worldwide with more than 10 million total LTE subscriptions; the majority of these operators are either US or Japanese operators. Korea was the most penetrated LTE market in 1Q14, with a rate of 47% of the countries population,” said Thecla Mbongue, Senior Analyst – Ovum.
“The increased availability and affordability of LTE-capable devices is a major growth driver. However, deployments and usage are still at an early stage globally, except for North America, where LTE represented over one-third of mobile broadband usage in 1Q14. In emerging markets, where prepaid is dominant and handset subsidies less frequent, LTE take-up is slow as coverage is limited and operators prioritize the high-end and business segments,” added Mbongue.
“Ovum forecasts the number of LTE subscriptions globally to exceed 2 billion by 2019, accounting for 25% of mobile broadband subscriptions. By that time one in three people will use an LTE device. The future growth will essentially be fuelled by more affordable devices and more network deployments enabled by further spectrum availability,” concluded Mbongue.