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September 26, 2013

4G Network Adoption Expected to Surpass 3G in Three Years

Every mobile carrier is working fast and furiously to get its customers on the 4G network, but there are still plenty of people around the world who don’t have 4G coverage yet. A new report indicates that just 2.9 percent of cellular subscriptions currently have access to 4G LTE. The fourth generation cellular network is expected to garner about 20 percent of the total market.

This report also highlights that 4G adoption rates are starting to pick up speed in a very real way. By the end of 2018, ABI Research says that 4G traffic will make up about two-thirds of the total cellular traffic that is being broadcast around the world. 4G is actually expected to pass 3G as far as traffic goes about two years before that. ABI believes that 3G will officially become the minority carrier network by the end of 2016.

ABI says that 4G data traffic is expected to increase at an annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 82.2 percent between now and 2018. Wireless operators around the globe are helping the network growth keep up this torrid pace by setting up the network adapters and releasing more and more phones and tablets that are able to operate on these LTE networks. More phones and tablets that are 4G compatible also means that the prices for those devices is going down.

“These two factors work hand in hand to enable consumers to stream videos,” said Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research in a recent release. “Already, Verizon saw video accounting for 50 percent of its network traffic earlier this year. ABI Research believes global annual video consumption will soar at a CAGR of 60.6 percent to exceed 100 Exabyte in 2018.”




Edited by Alisen Downey


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