June 29 2012, BELLEVUE, Wash. – 4G Americas reports that in the first quarter of 2012 many milestones were achieved at the billion mark for the wireless industry and 3GPP technologies in particular, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. 

“Benchmarks are important to recognize as they provide a level of achievement for the wireless cellular industry,” said Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. “In North, Central and South America, cellular technology continues to change our lifestyles as the number of wireless connections surpassed a billion in the region. On a global scale, mobile broadband connections of HSPA and LTE achieved nearly a billion connections, reflecting 16 percent market share of all mobile connections and increasing rapidly.”

Milestones achieved in 1Q 2012:

Global

• Wireless connections surpassed 6 billion with 90 percent using 3GPP technologies
• More than half a billion (580 million) annual new 3GPP connections, including more than a quarter of a billion (262 million) annual new mobile broadband HSPA and LTE connections (in the 12 months ending March 2012)
• Mobile broadband HSPA and LTE connections reached nearly 1 billion (989 million)
• Based 1Q 2012 forecasts, LTE is expected to grow from 44 million at YE 2012 to more than 1 billion by end of 2017

Americas - Western Hemisphere

• Mobile connections (all technologies) surpassed 1 billion with 787 million (78 percent) using 3GPP technologies

HSPA+ and LTE Mobile Broadband Growth - 1Q 2012:

Annual growth for LTE on a worldwide basis is more than 2,000 percent and in the leading market,the U.S., more than 4 million new LTE connections were recorded in the three months ending in March 2012. Latin America continues its HSPA mobile broadband growth with 88 million connections at the end of the first quarter.

Global

• 474 HSPA commercial networks in 181 countries
• 228 HSPA+ commercial networks in 110 countries; 140 at 21 Mbps; 7 at 28 Mbps; 81 at 42 Mbps
• 91 LTE commercial networks in 47 countries; 40+ more to launch in 2012; more than 130 commercial LTE networks expected by end of 2012
• More than 347 LTE commitments or announcements by network operators

Americas - Western Hemisphere

• HSPA and LTE mobile broadband achieved 207 million connections with annualized growth of 57 percent
• HSPA and LTE added 75.3 million connections in the year ending March 2012 with 20 percent market share
• HSPA and LTE market share is expected to achieve 23 percent at the end of 2012; by the end of 2017 market share for HSPA and LTE will increase to 66 percent

North America

• 14 LTE commercial networks (June 27, 2012)
• 10.8 million LTE connections; 4.2 million added in 1Q 2012 compared to 3 million added in 4Q 2011
• North America has the majority of the global LTE connections – 10.8 million of the 17.8 million global connections or 61 percent
• HSPA and LTE mobile broadband achieved 119 million connections with a combined annualized growth of 43 percent
• HSPA added 26 million connections in the year ending March 2012 and LTE added 10 million for a combined total of 36 million subscriptions

Latin America

• 6 LTE commercial networks in 4 countries; 41 HSPA+ networks in 22 countries (June 26, 2012)
• Wireless connections (all technologies) achieved 649 million with 3GPP technologies representing 95 percent market share (618 million)
• 71 million new 3GPP subscriptions in the year ending March 2012; more than half (39 million) were new HSPA connections to achieve 14 percent market share of total wireless connections; 14 million new HSPA connections were added in 1Q 2012 alone
• HSPA mobile broadband achieved 88 million connections in the year ending March 2012 with annualized growth of 80 percent

“Latin American mobile users continue to demand high speed data services; mobile broadband penetration climbed from 8 percent to 15 percent during the last year and it is estimated that mobile data penetration will reach 30 percent at the end of 2013,” said Erasmo Rojas, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean at 4G Americas.   

For more information and to view a variety of statistical charts on the 3GPP family of technologies, visit www.4gamericas.org. All subscriber data is from Informa Telecoms & Media World Cellular Information Service (WCIS).