North America Hits 60% LTE Market Share

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwired - September 08, 2016) - 5G Americas, the industry trade association and voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas, today announced mobile subscriber data for the second quarter of 2016 which included impressive regional milestones according to data gathered by Ovum. North America posted a 60 percent share of market for LTE technology in the region, with other leading regions of the world posting 34 percent in Oceania and South and Southeast Asia and 30 percent in Western Europe. Latin America and the Caribbean added 55 million new LTE connections achieving a 12 percent share of market in the region -- tripling the LTE market share year-over-year.

Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas stated, "LTE continues to make tremendous progress in the Americas and the entire world in terms of connections, deployments and technical development."

North America

The penetration rate of LTE connections to the population of 358 million in North America reached 74 percent. This data compares to Western Europe at 39 percent penetration and Oceania, South and Southeast Asia with 35 percent penetration. In addition to having a penetration rate equivalent to the combined total of the next highest regions, the U.S. and Canada also has the highest market share for LTE in comparison to all mobile wireless technologies with 60 percent versus Oceania, South and Southeast Asia at 34 percent and 30 percent in Western Europe. Market share represents the percentage of mobile wireless connections that are LTE technology versus all other mobile technologies.

• 268 million LTE connections for net gain of 70 million new LTE customers in the last 12 months and a 36 percent growth rate
• LTE is forecast to reach 398 million connections at the end of 2020 (forecast does not include M2M) or 93 percent share of market

Latin America

Jose Otero, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean, 5G Americas explained, "Consumer demand for high speed data services in Latin America and the Caribbean is driving LTE adoption in the region, even though the region's largest country -- Brazil -- is undergoing an economic slowdown. The recent launches of LTE-Advanced in Chile, Brazil and Peru showcase operators' confidence in this technology." Jose Otero added, "As LTE and LTE-Advanced coverage progresses and smartphones continue to increase their presence, mobile broadband connections will continue to grow in the region."

Latin America and the Caribbean had another healthy quarter for LTE growth in market share tripling from 4 percent to 12 percent year-over-year.

• 85 commercial LTE networks in 44 countries
• 702 million total mobile wireless subscriptions
• 82 million LTE connections; 55 million added year-over-year
• LTE market share increased from 4 to 12 percent from 2Q2015 to 2Q2016
• LTE is forecast to reach 109 million connections at the end of 2016 (forecast does not include M2M) and a 16 percent share of market

Global LTE & LTE-Advanced

• 1.4 billion LTE connections out of a total of 7.5 billion total cellular connections worldwide
• 684 million new LTE subscriptions year-over-year; 89 percent growth increase
• LTE connections forecast to reach close to four billion by year-end 2020 (forecast does not include M2M)
• LTE global market share forecast to reach nearly 50 percent by 2020

For more information and to view a variety of statistical charts on the 3GPP family of technologies, visit www.5gamericas.org. Subscriber and forecast data is provided by Ovum.

About 5G Americas: The Voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas

5G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to advocate for and foster the advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technology and its evolution beyond to 5G, throughout the ecosystem's networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas. 5G Americas is invested in developing a connected wireless community while leading 5G development for all the Americas. 5G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and officially announced the change of the organization's name from 4G Americas on February 12, 2016. More information is available at www.5gamericas.org.

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5G Americas' Board of Governors members include: América Móvil, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Cisco, CommScope, Entel, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel, Kathrein, Mitel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc. and Telefónica.