GSA Confirms LTE Subscriptions are now more than 32% of All Global Mobile Subscriptions

1. The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) confirms that LTE subscriptions now account for 32.4% of all mobile subscriptions globally. Analysing the latest information, provided to GSA by Ovum, shows growth of nearly 838 million new LTE subscriptions in the year to September 2017 compared to nearly 776 million the year earlier. That equated to a 49.2% rise over the twelve-month period.

GSA Confirms LTE Subscriptions are now more than 32% of All Global Mobile Subscriptions

LTE is now the only major mobile technology that is growing rapidly, with the WCDMA market growth expected to be limited to around 4% per annum over the next five years.

By the end of September 2017, LTE subscriptions, according to Ovum data, stood at 2.54 billion compared to 1.70 billion a year earlier.

The Asia region continues to lead LTE adoption with 61% market share after a very strong 57% growth rate year-on-year, despite the fact that other regions have also begun to rapidly adopt LTE, especially in Africa (LTE subscriptions growth 75% year-on-year); and Latin America & the Caribbean (80% YoY).

Joe Barrett, President of GSA, said,

“Over the past year LTE subscriptions have grown substantially and LTE is now on the verge of becoming the predominant global mobile technology. It overtook WCDMA/HSPA in mid-2017, and given current rates of growth GSA predicts that the number of LTE subscriptions (including LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro) will exceed 3 billion next year. 2018 will also be the year that LTE overtakes GSM to become the most subscribed mobile technology worldwide.”