The Global mobile Suppliers Association reported that currently there are 145 operators with commercial LTE services in 66 countries worldwide. Of this number, 13 operators from eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have launched LTE services. Also in the region, 111 operators have launched commercial services using HSPA technology in the region.
Globally, GSA noted that in the last year alone, 97 LTE networks were commercially launched around the world. According to the report. Also, 104 new operators committed over the past year to investing in LTE network deployments, raising the total number of committed operators to 330 in 104 countries.
GSA forecasts that 234 LTE networks will be commercially launched in 83 countries by the end of 2013.
According to the association, the majority of network deployments use the FDD mode of the LTE standard, operating in paired spectrum. The 1800 MHz band (3GPP band 3) has emerged as the dominant band for LTE network deployments in virtually all regions of the world. The 1800 MHz band is likely to remain the prime band for LTE, and a key enabler for international roaming in the foreseeable future. The second most popular band for deploying LTE systems is 2.6 GHz (band 7).
The report stated that 58 operators — 40% of all commercial LTE operators — use the 1800 MHz spectrum either as a single band system or as part of a multi-band deployment in 39 countries. GSA also noted that manufacturers have ensured a wide choice of LTE user devices which can operate in the 1800 MHz spectrum. There are 130 LTE products, almost 1 in 4, that support LTE1800.
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