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LTE mobile broadband set for 3,400% growth by 2015
The technology is set to see a huge surge in subscriptions between now and 2015.
Between now and 2015, the number of people signed up for the next-generation service will increase by 3,400 per cent, the market intelligence firm claimed.
In-Stat attributed this rapid rise in subscriptions to consumer desire to connect to the internet while on the move at any time of day and using a variety of devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs.
More than half of all infrastructure rollouts from network operators are now based on LTE, the organisation revealed, sparking a decline in 2G usage from 2012 onwards.
Despite the growth of LTE, the current most popular form of mobile broadband access - 3G - is set to remain dominant until at least 2015.
Chris Kissel, analyst at In-Stat, revealed the growing prevalence of next-generation mobile services will begin to impact on the number of people taking advantage of a 3G connection.
He commented: "3G will remain the predominant service subscription, also with robust growth, but over the next five years things will trend toward LTE as 4G service availability is ramped up."
The telecoms expert went on to predict that LTE will become the most widely used form of 4G access.
"Although there are regional variations in the adoption of cellular services, due in part to current available technology, LTE will clearly be the 4G service of choice moving forward," Mr Kissel remarked.
In-Stat's research comes just days after Infonetics revealed that mobile broadband overtook fixed-line internet services in terms of subscriber numbers in 2010.
At the end of last year, 558 million people were signed up to a mobile internet service, while 500 million were accessing the internet via a landline connection.
However, the company insisted fixed broadband is "not dead", with countries such as China investing heavily in the technology.