Global subscription to the fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE) network is likely to surge more than five-fold to reach some 50 million this year from last year's 9 million, a report showed Monday.

The increase is likely to be fueled by gains in the Asia-Pacific region, with subscriptions in the region expected to claim 53 percent of this year's total figure, according to the report by U.S.-based marketing research firm Parks Associates.

"Fifteen carriers in the Asia & Pacific region now have live LTE services, with affordable pricing models that prompt robust subscriber growth in the region," said Parks Associates Director Harry Wang, noting that South Korea and Japan are key growth drivers.

If the latest outlook turns out to be true, South Korea is likely to account for 32 percent of the global LTE subscribers.

Earlier this year, the country's three mobile carriers pledged to increase subscriptions for the faster network service to 16 million. As of end-July, their combined LTE subscriptions stood at 8.7 million.

Meanwhile, the report predicted global LTE subscription to exceed 560 million in 2016.

As of June, 83 mobile carriers have launched LTE networks in 43 countries, with 40 more players expected to adopt the service by the end of the year. U.S.-based Verizon Wireless is currently the world's largest provider of LTE services, followed by South Korea's SK Telecom Co. and Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc.

From the article, "Global LTE subscribers to top 50 mln this year: report."

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