The incredible growth of the Asian LTE Market

Asia-Pacific will increase its subscriber share from 26{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} in 2011
to 41{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} to reach 375 million LTE subscriptions in 2016
The DigiWorld Institute by IDATE regularly publishes market insights, data & forecasts for the World LTE Market. On the occasion of the LTE Asia 2012 conference in Singapore on 18-19 September, the Institute shares the results of a recent research on the Asian LTE market.
Asia-Pacific – recent LTE industry moves
• Japan: NTT DOCOMO plans to provide LTE services to 50{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} of the population by 2014 using 20,000 base stations. Earlier this year, their competitors eMobile and Softbank launched LTE services.
• South Korea: the two leading operators in South Korea, SK Telecom and LG U+, launched LTE in 2011. Their peer, KT, was barred by a class action related to the switch-off of its 2G network in the 1800 MHz band. We have adjusted our end-2012 forecasts upwards, with rollout and take-up of LTE services being quicker than expected.
• India: The first TD-LTE service was launched by Bharti Airtel in April 2012. The auction of the 700 MHz band, however, has not yet been confirmed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Administrative issues linked to spectrum and availability of TDLTE devices will be key to the take-up of LTE technology in India.
• China: whilst there is a likelihood that the Government might award LTE licenses in 2014, the same deep cloud of uncertainty lingers above its green light for TD-LTE deployment. The Government is still obliging China Mobile to continue its TD-SCDMA deployment; the operator is heavily committed to TDLTE and building its TD-SCDMA network so that cell sites and other network elements may be re-used for the LTE network.
• Hong Kong: CSL launched its dual-band LTE network (1800 MHz/2.6 GHz) in March 2011, with dongles provided by ZTE. Take-up has been in line with expectations with 60,000 subscribers by the end of Q3 2011. China Mobile launched its LTE service in Hong Kong in April 2012 using FDD spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band.
The DigiWorld Institute by IDATE predicts 375 million LTE subscriptions at the end of 2016 in Asia-Pacific.

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