New Evolution from LTE to 5G report confirms 774 operators investing in LTE and 18 committed to deploy 5G

24 Apr 2017
Joe Barrett

April 2017: GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, announces that a new “Evolution from LTE to 5G” report is available on its web site, following on from the recently published update to its LTE Ecosystem report. The latest industry facts and statistics in this new report confirm that 774 operators in 202 countries are investing in LTE, which is the fastest technology adoption of any mobile technology in history.

Joe Barrett, President, GSA said: “GSA is highly regarded for its industry reports which track the investment in and the commercial deployment of the family of 3GPP technologies as the mobile industry is migrating to LTE and eventually 5G and beyond. GSA will continue to promote and share unique information that enable our Members, Associates, operators, regulators and all companies active in the expanding mobile industry to better define their strategies and track industry technology progress.”

Some of the main findings in the report include:

·       591 commercially launched L TE or L TE-Advanced networks in 189 countries, including 97 L TE- TDD (TD-LTE) launched in 56 countries
106 commercial VoLTE networks in 55 countries, and 167 operators investing in VoLTE in 74 countries

·       195 launched networks are L TE-Advanced or L TE-Advanced Pro, in 95 countries GSA forecasts c. 646 commercially launched LTE networks by end-2017

·       4 NB-IoT and 2 LTE-M networks are commercially launched, with 40 NB-IoT and 12
LTE-M networks planned or being trialled
At least 18 operators have now made public commitments to deployment of pre-standards ‘5G’ networks in 13 countries

GSA is creating a new spectrum and technology database accessible via the GSA web site that will be accessible by GSA Member companies, Associates and mobile operators. The cost of GSA membership is based on the level of participation and company size, membership starts, from as low as £95/year for New Venture Partners. To join, contact us at info@gsacom.com.

About the GSA

GSA promotes the 3GPP technology roadmap – 3G; 4G; 5G including NB-IoT, VoLTE, LTE-V, LTE-U, LTE Broadcast, mobile device availability and features, etc. and represents companies across the worldwide mobile ecosystem engaged in the supply of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, devices, applications and mobile support services. The GSA membership is based on the level of participation and company size. The GSA Executive Board comprises of Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm Incorporated, covering close to 100% of all mobile network infrastructure deployments.

Members:  Cobham Wireless · Drayson Technologies · Ericsson · Expway ·  Huawei · Intel · Nokia · Qualcomm · Radisys

Associate: Analysys Mason · Rohde & Schwarz  · IFT Mexico · Doro AB · ComReg  · LGS Innovations · SpiderCloud Wireless · Syniverse