A recent ABI Research report expects LTE deployments to deliver population coverage of 57% (4.2 billion) by 2018 while legacy WCDMA and CDMA2000 to cover 31% (2.3 billion). Out of 470 LTE commitments tracked by the company, 193 have gone commercial.

The LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) subscriptions will take an important role in the mobile subscriber market, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 295% between 2013 and 2018 to reach 500 million, reports ABI Research. It will represent 34% of the overall 1.47 billion LTE-related subscriptions. 

In a recent report, ABI Research has announced that the spending on LTE base stations will hit US$ 12.3 billion in 2013 as countries across globe are rushing to embrace 4G technology. LTE is being deployed worldwide in both developed as well as in emerging markets.

Global LTE traffic will grow by over 200% in 2013, says ABI Research. Overall mobile data traffic had increased by 69% year-on-year in 2012. LTE has growth rate of 207% in 2013 compared to 99% for 3G traffic. 

ABI Research has forecasted that outdoor small cells will reach 500,000 units in 2013 in its latest report on outdoor small cells and carrier Wi-Fi Market Data. 1W and below small cell class will represent almost two-thirds of unit shipments in 2013, and continue to grow to overtake the higher power 5-10W microcell shipments during 2014.

According to a new ABI Research finding, an estimated 103 Million 4G LTE mobile devices were shipped in 2012. Apple’s iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones provided LTE-enabled handset shipments a substantial lift in 2012. LTE-enabled handset contribution was put to 91 million in 2012 and the balance came from other mobile devices.

LTE subscriber totals have surpassed WiMAX in 2Q12, reports ABI Research. Report also predicts that LTE handsets will surpass 80-percent of device shipments during 2016.

LTE subscriptions around the world may exceed 40 million by the end of 2012 says ABI Research. This will represent a fourfold increase over the nine million global LTE subscriptions in 2011. The wide range of expected LTE smartphone launches in 2012 from major mobile manufacturers are the main reason behind the increase in LTE subscriptions.

87 million 4G devices are expected to be sold in 2012, says ABI Research. With 294% year-on-year increase, 4G subscriptions are really going to take off in 2012. LTE will take major share of this market as WiMAX is running out of favor from vendors and operators.

LTE smartphones will top 65 million units in 2012 and will help push the total royalty 14% higher in 2012, says ABI Research. Mobile wireless royalties for GSM, WCDMA, and LTE smartphones were just under $20 billion in 2011. LTE handsets will make only total 4% of the total handsets shipped in 2012 however total royalty revenue will be higher.