LTE technology became the most widely used wireless cellular technology in the world in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to 5G Americas. Based on data from Ovum, LTE market share now exceeds 35% and the technology is providing 4G wireless access to services and applications to a large portion of the world’s population, according to 5G Americas.
LTE Market Share
North America’s market share for LTE at 74 percent exceeds all other world regions; the next highest world regions are Oceania, Eastern and South Eastern Asia with LTE share of 56 percent followed by Western Europe at 44 percent. Latin America and the Caribbean had significant growth of LTE market share to 29 percent at the end of 2017.
In North America, LTE had 353 million connections and a penetration rate of 97 percent during the fourth quarter of 2017. LTE penetration is forecast to pass 100 percent in 2018, then up to 132 percent in 2021, after which time new 5G connections will begin to impact LTE subscriptions and penetration rates, according to 5Gs America. The organization calculates penetration by comparing the number of LTE connections to the total population.
“LTE is the standard-bearer for the mobile wireless industry, continuing to grow not only in terms of the number of connections worldwide, and the more-than 500 commercial networks, but its evolution from the early networks first launched in 2009 to the LTE-Advanced Pro networks that will provide the foundation for 5G in the next few years,” said Chris Pearson, 5G Americas president, in a prepared statement. “LTE will continue to grow until 2022, when we will begin to see some substantial uptake in 5G connections.”
