Portio Research has released its report, LTE and the Road to 4G, 2010-2015. The 82-page study covers the current state of LTE (Long Term Evolution) at worldwide and regional levels, complete with analysis and growth forecasts, and discusses the drivers and inhibitors for LTE growth. It also reviews the LTE network infrastructure vendor landscape, and examines the future outlook for what it describes as: “this highly-promising 4G enabling technology”. The report also includes analysis of the expected trends in technology adoption, the planned trials and deployments by mobile operators worldwide, and comparisons between LTE and WiMAX on several fronts.
The report notes that with the soaring adoption of data services by mobile subscribers using handsets and laptops, data traffic has skyrocketed, and 3G utilisation rates are fast-approaching threshold levels and threatening the user experience.
3G and 3.5G networks are increasingly proving incapable of handling data traffic, especially in urban areas and places with a high smartphone density. Facing a need for near-constant enhancement of data transfer rates and mobile broadband network efficiency, mobile operators are consequently planning to move to 4G technologies to accommodate the surge in data traffic and turn this challenge into an opportunity.
LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) are the main pathways to 4G that mobile operators have to pick between, and on which they can build their data handling capacities. While WiMAX has enjoyed a first-mover advantage and a clear head-start, LTE’s benefits – not least that it is a natural progression for mobile operators operating on GSM/UMTS networks, and offers the ability to lower the cost of delivering data services – are expected to drive a surge in LTE network deployments in the coming years.
The last couple of years have seen numerous announcement of LTE trials and deployments the world-over, and Portio says that both this ever-growing number of contracts, and the major mobile operators involved who are favouring LTE over alternative technologies, strongly suggest that LTE deployment is gaining substantial momentum. 
The report forecasts that the worldwide LTE subscriber base is expected to grow at a phenomenal CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 187.7 per cent between 2010 and 2015.
This growth will see the worldwide LTE subscriber base pass the 200m mark by the endof 2015, within six years of its launch in late 2009. By comparison, six years after its launch, the worldwide 3G subscriber base has reached only 100m.
There’s more information about the report here.
