The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has calculated that long-term evolution (LTE) is growing at an accelerating pace around the world.
LTE is a relatively new mobile technology that can yield data speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G networks. SA's networks, however, will remain hamstrung until the lingering standstill on spectrum allocation is resolved.
Telkom Mobile, MTN and Vodacom all have commercial LTE offerings, but coverage is still limited.
Alan Hadden, GSA's VP of research, says: "LTE subscriptions grew by 115 million in the fourth quarter, over 36% higher than 3G connections. GSM subscriptions fell by 78.5 million in the same period. We are confident that LTE growth will continue to lead all other mobile systems."
Hadden explained there were 497 million LTE subscriptions worldwide by the end of last year. A total of 290 million LTE subscriptions were added during 2014, equivalent to 140% annual growth.
The biggest gains came from the Asia-Pacific region, which increased the total of LTE connections to 47% of global LTE connections, compared to 40% in June 2014. The second was North America with 33% of global LTE subscriptions, while Europe was on 16% of global subscriptions by year end.
GSA forecasts there will be at least 450 commercially launched LTE networks globally by the end of 2015, up from 364 that had entered service by the end of last year.
The GSA will release its full report, Evolution to LTE, this month.
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