SVM MobileBits » LTE

Leading Analyst Firms Continue to Predict Big Numbers for LTE

SVM — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:25:49 +0000

Juniper Research recently published a report predicting that the number LTE subscribers is expected to exceed 100 million by 2014. Howard Wilcox, author of the report, was quoted as saying, “There is intense activity in the LTE market right now, with in excess of 30 network operator commitments.”

In the same time period, another leading research firm, ABI Research, issued a report stating that it believes that wireless operators will spend roughly $3.3 billion building LTE base stations in 2011. Senior Analyst Nadine Manjaro states that, “Vendors will be shipping base station equipment in significant quantities in 2010 ahead of limited trials that typically last about a year, followed by full commercial launches.” ABI research previously issued a study in June of 2009 noting that the number of wireless operators committed to deploying LTE networks and offering LTE-based services to subscribers in 2010 has climbed to at least 12.

For more information, see:

http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/juniper-abi-research-forecast-big-numbers-lte/2009-07-09?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/dozen-operators-launching-lte-services-2010

LTE Growth to Outpace 3G?

SVM — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:59:16 +0000

Analyst firm Pyramid Research recently released its Global Telecom Insider report, “LTE’s Five-Year Global Forecast: Poised to Grow Faster than 3G,” which estimates that LTE will take just over four years to reach 100 million subscriptions- a milestone that took nearly six years for UMTS/HSPA to reach. Pyramid estimates that the number of LTE subscriptions worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 404% from 2010 to 2014, and will ultimately reach 136 million subscriptions by the end 2014. The report notes that among the factors that will contribute to the rapid growth of LTE mobile broadband technology are the cost of the network, widespread vendor and operator support, and the fact that Chinese carriers could move to LTE as early as 2011.

For more information see:

http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/ins_gl_090513.htm?sc=PP090515

http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=176806

Backhaul Investments Continue- Despite Recession- as Operators Gear up for LTE Networks

JCOLNA — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:34:12 +0000

According to a new study published by ABI Research, wireless companies are continuing investment in backhaul technologies despite the current state of the economy, as operators gear up for deployment of LTE networks. In fact, ABI is predicting a fivefold revenue increase between 2009 and 2014.

Backhaul is the bottleneck that can prevent a satisfactory user experience. As the amount of data that crosses an operator’s network increases, backhaul will become an increasingly critical component to network management.

Senior ABI analyst Nadine Manjaro is quoted as saying, “Operators might not deploy LTE immediately, but they know that before they do, they’ll have to upgrade their backhaul capacity.”

For more information see: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Recession-or-Not-Wireless-bw-14931316.html

CTIA Wireless Wrap-up

SVM — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:53:27 +0000

Overall, attendance at this year’s CTIA Wireless event was down a bit, which was to be expected due to the current economy. But of course it was still CTIA! The three major topics of discussion in Las Vegas included mobile apps, LTE and new mobile phones- many of the touchscreen, messaging and smart variety.

Probably the biggest announcement at the show came from RIM, with the introduction of the highly-anticipated Blackberry App World. The new App World will make it easier for BlackBerry users to customize their phones with third-party applications by allowing them to download apps directly to their phones from an online catalog.

In terms of phones, there was a lot of buzz around the new Samsung Impression. A number of new messaging phone models also made their debut including the Samsung Magnet, Kyocera G2GO M2000, Sanyo SCP-2700 and the LG Neon and Xenon. Samsung also announced the Mondi mobile WiMAX enabled handheld device. A little more was expected in terms of news on the Palm Pre and Android devices, but it was relatively quiet on both fronts- still no pricing or availability for the Pre and only a mention by Samsung of the possibility of an Android device for Sprint or T-Mobile by the end of 2009.

On the LTE front, Ericsson announced what it purports to be first commercial LTE device platform on the market. Vendors also appear to be ramping up their plans and rallying their support for LTE.

For more show highlights, check out CNET’s Best of CTIA 2009 at http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-10211572-51.html