LTE Set For Takeoff In 2012

With mobile networks struggling to deal with the increasing data strain posed by smartphones, Juniper Research has predicted that 4G technologies such as LTE or WiMAX, will start to make their presence felt in 2012.

Juniper’s 4G LTE report points to the all time high commitment to LTE networks, and forecasts that the number of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile broadband subscribers will exceed 300 million globally by 2015.

2012 Arrival

“Most of this growth will occur from 2012 but mobile operators are preparing now as rapidly increasing data traffic from mobile apps and mobile Internet usage forces them to react,” said Juniper.

However, the analyst group warns that only 1 in every 20 subscribers will benefit from using these high speed networks.

“Although 1 in 20 globally is low overall, in fact our research found that usage levels will be significantly higher in other regions such as North America where it will be closer to 1 in 5 as major operators plan rollouts in the next 6 months,” said the report’s author, Howard Wilcox.

Juniper has also said that there are a number of hurdles that LTE needs to overcome in order to succeed. For instance, LTE needs to avoid the mistakes of 3G and ensure that suitable devices are available when networks are launched.

It believes that LTE’s main markets will be the developed nations of North America, Western Europe, the Far East and China, which together will account for 90 percent of the market by 2015.

Mobile Data Strain

Back in December last year, Scandinavian mobile operator TeliaSonera announced that it had completed work on two LTE networks in Oslo and Stockholm. Meanwhile O2 in the UK has being conducting a LTE (Long Term Evolution) trial in Slough.

It is clear that operators are currently looking at how to expand the capacity of their mobile networks to cope with the increasing data strain imposed by the rising use of smartphones. A recent report by ABI Research warned that mobile data use in Western Europe is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 42 percent from 2009 to 2015.

This mobile congestion warning was echoed by wireless communications specialist ADC, which said that based on Ofcom’s seventh annual Communications Market report, it is clear that smartphone mass multi-tasking is “battering bandwidth.”

It said that the latest figures show that multi-tasking is on the rise and now accounts for a fifth of media and comms use.

“Networks have been struggling since smartphones became the latest must-have gadget but at least to begin with they could only perform one function at a time,” said John Spindler, VP at ADC. “Now that users can use multiple data-hungry applications simultaneously, bandwidth demands are being multiplied exponentially, giving network operators a real headache. It is important to remember that before the smartphone networks were struggling to provide seamless voice coverage, now they are expected to handle multiple data applications per user using the same outmoded architecture.”

“After a long period of denial, operators have accepted that network cell size must be reduced if they are to provide users with the precision coverage needed to cope with next generation challenges,” said Spindler. “This will involve deploying a greater number of antennae in more locations and an increased focus on in-building and outdoor networks.