The Asia & Pacific region is poised to overtake North America this year in number of 4G/LTE subscribers, thanks to large gains in South Korea and Japan, according to Parks Associates.

Parks Associates' new report Driving 4G Adoption: Global Mobile Innovation finds Asia & Pacific will claim over 53% of all 4G/LTE subscribers by the end the year, helping push the total number of subscribers over 560 million globally by 2016.

“Fifteen carriers in Asia & Pacific now have live LTE services, with affordable pricing models that prompt robust subscriber growth in this region,” said Harry Wang, Director, Digital Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. “Mobile operators worldwide have committed to 4G/LTE as the network technology of the future, but financial conditions, handset costs, and spectrum license availability will all influence the pace and scope of regional deployments.”

Parks Associates research:

• Global 4G/LTE subscribership will increase from 9 million in 2011 to over 560 million in 2016.
• In 2016, 4G/LTE subscribers will account for only 8.8% of worldwide mobile subscriptions.
• More than 50% of U.S. broadband households have at least one smartphone.
• 61% of U.S. mobile phone users have some knowledge of the term “4G,” but only 20% understand the term “LTE.”
• As of June 2012, 83 carriers have launched LTE networks in 43 countries; 40 more carriers intend to deploy LTE by year end.

"Deciphering optimal mobile data pricing schemes is an important piece of operators’ monetization efforts, and many are already experimenting with their mobile data pricing plans,” said Jennifer Kent, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “Verizon Wireless recently introduced its ShareEverything plan, which allows users to share one data quota across multiple mobile broadband devices. Share data plans should encourage subscribers to add more mobile devices, while offering unlimited text messaging mitigates the threat of third-party messaging services like Whatsapp.”

Kent added that operators must control costs through network optimization and capture new market opportunities by offering consumers compelling value-added services and expanding their presence into the M2M market.

In Driving 4G Adoption: Global Mobile Innovation, Parks Associates analysts dissect mobile operators’ 4G strategies in the U.S. and globally, with a focus on bandwidth management and network monetization. Using interviews with key industry players, evaluations of the market landscape and core technologies, and primary consumer data, the report explains the industry’s movement towards LTE, provides visibility of current and near-term LTE deployments, analyzes key LTE monetization strategies, and forecasts global LTE subscribers through 2016.

For more information, visit http://www.parksassociates.com or contact 972-490-1113, [email protected].

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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