GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) today announced the latest update on smartphones and devices available for your LTE Advanced and LTE networks.
There are 2,706 smartphones including operator and frequency variants, showing 61.2 percent share of all LTE device types.
98 percent of LTE smartphones are multimode, capable of operating on at least one 3G technology in addition to LTE and almost 50 percent of LTE phones can operate on 42 Mbps DC-HSPA+ networks.
1800 MHz (band 3) is the most popular spectrum for LTE, used in over 44 percent networks. 54 percent of LTE devices can operate in band 3 creating the largest ecosystem.
There are 2,381 LTE1800 (band 3) terminals. There are 1,614 smartphones in band 3 representing 68 percent of the total. There are 152 Category 6 devices. 2.6GHz (band 7) is the next most deployed band with 1,381 products, while 2.1GHz (band 1) has 1,185 products.
The report said 2,159 devices support UE Category 4, (up to 150 Mbps downlink) or higher, i.e. 49 percent of all LTE devices, including 249 UE category 6 terminals (300 Mbps), 8 Category 9 (450 Mbps) and 2 Category 12 (600 Mbps). The first commercial chipsets for supporting Category 16 (up to 1 Gbps downlink speed) using LTE-Advanced Pro technology are anticipated this year.
1,746 devices i.e. almost 40 percent of LTE devices support the LTE TDD (TD-LTE) mode. Bands 40 (2.3 GHz) and 38 (2.6 GHz) followed by bands 41 and 39 have well established ecosystems. The 3.5 GHz ecosystem (bands 42, 43) is growing with 56 user terminals available.
118 telecom operators are investing in VoLTE enabling an HD voice experience for their LTE customers, said GSA. There are 300 VoLTE-capable devices including including 275 smartphones. All top device vendors offer VoLTE terminals.
