According to ABI Research at least half a million base stations will be installed or upgraded for TD-LTE by the end of 2016. "Despite starting two years later than WiMAX 2, TD-LTE emerged as a viable alternative,' says Jim Eller, principal analyst, wireless infrastructure.

TD-LTE commercial service has been launched in Brazil, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. TD-LTE deployments are underway in Australia and Scandinavia and large-scale TD-LTE networks are planned in the United States and India.

China Mobile started its second phase of the TD-LTE Large Scale Trial Initiative (LSTI) in December and it will run until June 2012. According to Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting, “China Mobile announced plans last month to install an additional 10,000 to 20,000 TD-LTE base stations in 2012 and perhaps another 60,000 in 2013.”