According to Research and Markets new study, Saudi Arabia is leading the LTE
adoption within the Middle East, and globally by becoming the first country to
commercially offer TD-LTE user devices.
By 2015, the country is expected to account
for over 5.44 Million subscriptions representing a CAGR of 196.91 percent, which
is much higher that the worldwide CAGR of LTE adoption at 180 percent with a
total of 410 Million subscriptions.
The report forecasts Saudi Arabia will lead
LTE subscriptions throughout the region with over 70,000 subscriptions by
Q4’2011 and over 0.39 Million by Q4’2012, representing a YoY (Year-over-Year)
growth of 457 percent By 2015.
The attractive free trial packages offered
by STC Saudi Arabia, bundled 3G/LTE pricing models, and the increasing demand
for high-speed mobile broadband access in rural locations helps to achieve this
goal.
The UAE is also likely to follow suit, with
commercial LTE devices for the Etisalat expected to be launched in December
2011, following a pre-commercial network release in September.
Du is also expected to commercial launch
its LTE network in due course, leading UAE’s LTE subscriptions to hit 40,000 by
Q1’2012.
From a spectrum perspective, the 2.3 GHz
TDD spectrum is likely to retain the highest market share, driven by Saudi
network deployments. Also, re-farming of the sub-1 GHz spectrum bands is
expected by 2013, which will make the 1800 MHz the most-sought-after band.
Recently ABI Research predicted that mobile operator spending for wireless core gateways will exceed
$1billion in 2011, mainly driven by the deployment of LTE networks.
“There are approximately 35 LTE
networks in commercial service today and that number will grow to more than 100
next year,” said Aditya Kaul, practice director, mobile networks, ABI Research.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
