4G Americas Reports 100 Commercial LTE Networks in 49 Countries

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - Sep 10, 2012) - 4G Americas reports that 100 operators have now launched commercial LTE services in 49 countries, 67 of which were launched in the past 12 months. The most recent public announcement was the launch of LTE by regional network operator C-Spire Wireless in the U.S.

"The tide is rising for LTE deployments worldwide," stated Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. "We are now seeing more than a doubling of LTE network launches annually since the first two launches in 2009, and there are more than 340 additional operator commitments to LTE."

Global

• 133 commercial LTE networks are expected by the end of 2012 (Informa Telecoms & Media)
• Over 440 total commitments to LTE by network operators to date
• Total number of LTE connections reached 27.7 million at the end of second quarter 2012

North America

• 16 LTE commercial networks deployed in Canada and U.S.
• 15.4 million LTE connections, representing 56 percent of global LTE connections at the end of second quarter 2012

Latin America

• 7 LTE commercial networks with deployments in Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Uruguay

"Although the majority of the LTE deployments are FDD networks, there are also nine commercial LTE TDD systems launched on five continents of the world," said Vicki Livingston, Head of Communications for 4G Americas. "Among the numerous benefits of LTE technology is the flexibility of LTE to be deployed in a wide variety of spectrum bands and its scalability to operate in various bandwidths up to 20 MHz. With the scarcity of spectrum, LTE provides operators with the most spectrally efficient mobile broadband technology available today."

4G Americas maintains a current list of HSPA+ and LTE Global Deployments on its website. For more information and to view a variety of statistical charts on the 3GPP family of technologies, visit www.4gamericas.org. Subscriber data is from Informa Telecoms & Media World Cellular Information Service (WCIS).

About 4G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Mobile Broadband Technology
4G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to promote, facilitate and advocate for the deployment and adoption of the 3GPP family of technologies throughout the Americas. 4G Americas contributes to the successful commercial rollout of 3GPP mobile broadband technologies across the Americas and their place as the No. 1 technology family in the region. The organization aims to develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 4G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas. More information is available at www.4gamericas.org.