Asia leads in LTE subscriptions with a 57.7% share
Global LTE subscriptions totaled 1.45 billion at the end of the second quarter of the year, after a net addition of 160.3 million LTE connections during Q2, according to the latest report by the Global mobile Suppliers Association.
According to the report, 19.5% of the global mobile base was connected to LTE systems by the end of June.
The GSA report also revealed that more than 684 million LTE subscriptions worldwide were gained over the past 12 months, which is equivalent to 89% annual growth.
“GSA now predicts that the number of LTE and LTE Advanced subscriptions worldwide will pass the 3G/WCDMA-HSPA global total in 2019,” Alan Hadden, VP of GSA, said.
The Asia region had 853 million LTE subscriptions at the end of the second quarter, reaching a global market share of 57.7%. China passed 591 million LTE subscriptions at the end of June, after adding 80.3 million in Q2.
North America is the second-largest LTE market with 268.4 million subscriptions and 18.5% of the global total.
The European region added a total of 20.5 million LTE subscriptions in the second quarter, ending June with a global market share of 14.1%.
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The Latin America and Caribbean region added 13.3 million LTE customers in Q2 to reach 81.9 million 4G/LTE subscriptions, while the Middle East region had over 50 million LTE subscriptions at the end of the period. In Africa, LTE subscriptions reached over 10 million at the end of the second quarter.
The GSA report also revealed that a total of 521 operators have commercially launched LTE or LTE-Advanced systems in 170 countries. The administration forecasts there will be at least 560 commercially launched LTE networks by the end of this year.
Over 28% of LTE operators have commercially launched LTE-Advanced service. Several LTE operators have also launched LTE-Advanced Pro technologies, according to GSA.
AT&T reaches 111 Mexican cities with 4G services
In related news, AT&T Mexico announced that its LTE network coverage currently reaches 111 cities across the country, up from the 42 cities announced in April.
U.S. telco AT&T had acquired Mexican operators Iusacell and Nextel Mexico last year, and AT&T Mexico initially launched 4G services in six cities in October. New cities covered by AT&T’s 4G network in the last six months include Acapulco, Chetumal, Durango, Juarez, Nogales, Rio Bravo, Tecate, Tijuana and Valladolid.
AT&T expects its 4G network to cover 75 million people by the end of 2016, and 100 million people by the end of 2018.