LTE is set to become the most successful mobile phone standard with the fastest commercial deployment, according to the GSA mobile suppliers association.
The GSA says that 145 operators have launched commercial LTE 4G services in 66 countries.
It said 97 commercial LTE mobile networks started operating in 2012.
There are now 44 million subscribers using LTE networks.
"With 145 LTE networks commercially launched and over 560 user devices announced in the market supporting millions of customers worldwide, LTE technology is mainstream and firmly established as the fastest developing mobile system technology ever," said Alan Hadden, President of the GSA.
GSA forecasts that 234 LTE networks will be commercially launched in 83 countries by the end of 2013.
According to the GSA's report, LTE-enabled mobile broadband services are available in 37 more countries than 12 months ago.
"104 new operators committed over the past year to investing in LTE network deployments, raising the total number of committed operators to 330 in 104 countries," said the GSA report.
The majority of network deployments use the FDD mode of the LTE standard, operating in paired spectrum. 1800 MHz (3GPP band 3) has emerged as the dominant band for LTE network deployments in virtually all regions of the world. The report confirms that 58 operators i.e. 40% of all commercial LTE operators, use 1800 MHz spectrum either as a single band system, or as part of a multi-band deployment, in 39 countries.Another 22 LTE1800 network deployments are in progress in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Manufacturers including all the leading brands have ensured a wide choice of LTE user devices which can operate in 1800 MHz spectrum. GSA earlier confirmed that 130 LTE products, almost 1 in 4, support LTE1800. Many additional operators are engaged in trials or studies, therefore
1800 MHz is likely to remain the prime band for LTE, and a key enabler for international roaming, in the foreseeable future, said the report.
The second most popular band in which LTE systems are deployed is 2.6 GHz (band 7).
The TDD mode of the LTE standard has also gained strong traction and interest across the world. A total of 13 operators have launched commercial services using LTE TD D, which is the optimal solution for use in unpaired spectrum.
The FDD and TDD modes are fully complementary. LTE TDD shares most of the FDD design and standards and uses a common core network, and industry commitment is strong.
Some operators have commercially launched LTE service using both FDD and TDD modes. Six TDD systems are deployed in band 38 (2.6 GHz), five systems are in band 40 (2.3 GHz) and there is one deployment each in band 41 (2.5 GHz) and bands 42/43 (3.5 GHz). Bands 38 and 40 have the largest ecosystems for LTE TDD user devices.
