The global LTE segment has reached a new milestone, with the 300th commercial network having launched, according to the GSA.
There are now LTE networks in operation in 107 countries. The latest nations to join this list have been Taiwan, Bulgaria and Vanuatu.
GSA predicts that there will be 350 commercial LTE networks in operation by the end of 2014. So far this year, there have been 35 launches.
By the end of March, there were an estimated 245.4 million LTE subscriptions. This represents an annual growth rate of 135%. In the first quarter alone, 40 million LTE subscriptions have been added worldwide, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.
Cat-4 LTE networks capable of 150 Mbps downlink speed have been launched in around 33 countries, and at least 20% of operators are investing in deploying LTE-Advanced technologies including carrier aggregation.
In addition, 62 operators are investing in VoLTE studies, trials or deployments. So far eight operators in Asia and North America have commercially launched VoLTE services.
“LTE is the benchmark for mobile broadband globally. Investment in LTE-Advanced is a major trend in 2014,” GSA president Alan Hadden said.