Long-term evolution (LTE) subscriptions passed the one billion milestone in Q4 2015 and ended the year with 1.068 billion connections.
This is according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), which notes LTE continues to grow faster than any other mobile communications system technology and is now responsible for one in seven mobile connections worldwide.
SA, with six commercially launched LTE networks, has the highest number of networks in Africa, followed by Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, which have four networks each. The six South African operators which have deployed LTE are Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, Neotel and Afrihost.
Globally, LTE gained almost 156 million connections in Q4 2015, which is 75% more than 3G/HSPA systems, says GSA. The number of LTE and LTE-Advanced subscriptions is expected to pass the 3G/WCDMA-HSPA global total in 2020. GSM subscriptions fell by 141 million in the quarter.
Analysing mobile subscriptions data provided to GSA by Ovum for Q4 2015, GSA notes the number of LTE and LTE-Advanced subscriptions reached 1.068 billion worldwide by 31 December 2015. A total of 552.2 million LTE subscriptions worldwide were gained during the past year, representing 107% annual growth.
"A daily average of almost 1.7 million LTE subscriptions were being signed up during Q4 2015 and the rate of LTE subscriptions growth is accelerating. LTE technology is now being used by one in seven mobile subscriptions worldwide," says Alan Hadden, VP of research at GSA.
Asia-Pacific, with over 580 million LTE subscriptions, further grew its share of global LTE subscriptions to 54.3%. By December 2015, China had passed 386 million LTE subscriptions, adding almost 84 million in Q4 alone. North America remains the second largest LTE market with almost 237 million, though its share of the world market further declined to 22.2% of the global total. The European share remained in the mid-teens (14.8%).
Strong growth was recorded again in the Latin America and Caribbean region having more than quadrupled its number of 4G/LTE subscriptions to over 54 million. More than one million LTE subscriptions were added during each month in the Middle East and the region now has 32.5 million LTE subscriptions, having achieved an annual growth of around 110%. Russia has over 11.7 million LTE subscriptions.
GSA says 480 operators have commercially launched LTE systems in 157 countries and it forecasts there will be 550 commercially launched LTE networks by end-2016.
More than one in three operators are investing in LTE-Advanced system deployments, with the commercialisation of carrier aggregation the first feature to be exploited. Some 116 operators, over 24% of all LTE operators, have commercially launched LTE-Advanced service in 57 countries.
The global mobile subscriptions total reached 7.343 billion by the end of 2015, which GSA calculates is equivalent to 100% penetration of the global population.
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