Comment: Long term evolution is rolling out in the short term, it seems, from the GSA's figures. Though the summary of the latest report from the industry's vendors does not go into detail about the precise meaning of commercial service, it's clear that the recent consumer boom for mobile broadband is pushing operators to prepare their plans for the next level, LTE. There are some interesting gaps in the list of countries that have declared LTE plans, though.
The GSA, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association, which represents vendors, says that the number of operators committed to deploying LTE — the mobile industry's long-term evolution from 3G to 4G — has increased 35% over the past six months.
There will be 15 LTE networks in commercial service by the end of 2010, says the GSA, and a total of 42 networks in 21 countries have already committed to the 4G technology, according to the organisation, which collects data from the industry's main suppliers.
At the same time the upgraded 3G technology, HSPA and the souped-up version, HSPA+, is also spreading, says the GSA. HSPA services have been rolled out on 283 networks in 119 countries, and 54 operators in 33 countries have committed to HSPA+ — or HSPA Evolution. A total of 26 HSPA+ systems are already in commercial service, the GSA adds.
In a new publication from the GSA, Evolution to LTE Information, the organisation says that there are LTE commitments in Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the US.
Though the GSA does not point it out, that means there are no LTE commitments yet in India, Russia or the UK.
The GSA represents leading suppliers of equipment for GSM, 3G, WCDMA, HSPA and LTE, and claims close to 100% of mobile market share. GTB