[GSA]: 150 MNOs Have HD Voice Service

GSA updated its MNO stats:

"150 mobile operators in 87 countries have launched HD voice service enabled by W-AMR technology:

• 128 deployments are on 3G/HSPA networks
• 17 deployments are on 2G/GSM networks
• 40 deployments are on LTE networks (VoLTE)" 

See "150 mobile operators launched HD voice service in 87 countries; including 40 VoLTE deployments" - here. 

GSA: 270 5G Networks by 2025, Driven by Capacity for Video and Ultralow Latency

A new report (here) from GSA predicts "over 270 5G networks will be deployed by 2025 and points to two significant trends that are driving the wireless industry to develop 5G network technology. These are: 

• the explosive growth in demand for wireless broadband services, which require faster and higher capacity networks to deliver video
   
• other content-rich services and the predicted massive growth of Internet of Things (IoT) applications – some of which will require ultralow latency and need highly reliable IP connectivity".
  
  

See also "GSA's 5G Consensus Insights" - here.

"The report, from the GSA Executive Committee of Ericsson, Huawei and Qualcomm, is the first of its kind and will be updated twice a year. 

See "GSA predicts over 270 5G networks by 2025 in the first Executive Committee report 'The Road to 5G'" - here.

GSA's 5G Consensus Insights

Some slides from a presentation given in Hong Kong at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum on November 4, 2015

source:GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association www.gsacom.com) 

See "5G: CONSENSUS INSIGHTS FROM GSA EXECUTIVE MEMBERS" - here.

[GSA]: 20% of LTE Operators Launched LTE-Advanced (88 vs. 20 in February)

GSA reports that "LTE-Advanced deployments have taken firm hold in all markets around the world with 131 i.e. over 30% of operators in 60 countries investing in LTE-Advanced system deployments, as reported in GSA's July Evolution to LTE report. Carrier aggregation is the first LTE-Advanced feature to be commercialised enabling operators to efficiently combine spectrum assets to deliver an improved customer experience of mobile broadband.

A total of 88 operators, i.e. over 20% of all LTE operators, have commercially launched LTE-Advanced service in 45 countries:

• 15 LTE-Advanced networks support Category 4 devices (above 100 Mbps up to 150 Mbps peak downlink speed)
   
• 73 networks (83%) support Category 6 devices (above 150 Mbps up to 300 Mbps) with most (37 networks) supporting the top theoretical peak downlink speed of 300 Mbps
    
• In addition, another 22 are in deployment, trials or study phases

[Compare to the Feb'15 report - "[GSA]: 20 Operators Deployed 300 Mbps LTE-A" - here]

See "GSA says Investments in LTE-Advanced systems confirm global Cat 6 and Cat 9 growth trend" - here.

GSA: 497M LTE Subscriptions Worldwide

GSA announced that "Referring to newly-released data provided by Ovum Ltd, GSA calculated that LTE subscription net additions outpaced 3G/WCDMA-HSPA by 21% during the last 6 months of 2014, with LTE leading in both Q3 and Q4 .. There were 497 million LTE subscriptions worldwide by 31 December 2014. A total of 290 million LTE subscriptions were gained in the year, equivalent to 140% annual growth.

Alan Hadden [pictured], Vice President of Research, GSA said: "LTE subscriptions grew by 115 million in Q4, over 36% higher than 3G/WCDMA-HSPA connections. GSM subscriptions fell by 78.5 million in the same period. We are confident that LTE growth will continue to lead all other mobile systems."

GSA forecasts there will be at least 450 commercially launched LTE networks globally by end 2015, up from 364 that had entered service by the end of last year [here], with deployment of LTE-Advanced technologies as a major industry trend [here] regions. Further details will be provided in the next Evolution to LTE report to be published by GSA this month.

See "LTE reached 497 million subs by December 2014; growth outpaced 3G in 2H says GSA" - here.

[GSA]: 20 Operators Deployed 300 Mbps LTE-A

GSA confirmed that:

• 20 operators have commercially launched 300 Mbps Category 6 LTE-Advanced service in 15 countries: Australia, Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the UK .. 3GPP defines a Category 6 system within its Release 10 specifications as having a theoretical peak downlink speed capability of 300 Mbps, and 50 Mbps on the uplink.

• A further 22 Category 6 LTE-Advanced systems are also being deployed or in a trial phase. It means that 42 operators in total are investing in 300 Mbps LTE-Advanced deployments in 24 countries

• Nine Category 9 systems are in deployment, trial or test phase in Australia, Japan, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey, South Korea, Switzerland, UAE and the UK. 3GPP defines a Category 9 system as part of Release 11, and is capable of a theoretical peak downlink speed of 450 Mbps, and 50 Mbps for the uplink direction. Capabilities well beyond Cat 9 have already been demonstrated in a number of multiband multimode LTE-Advanced trials.

See "GSA confirms rise of 300 Mbps Cat 6 LTE-Advanced systems; 20 operators launched" - here.

GSA: 360 LTE Networks Launched; 96 in 2014

A new report by GSA finds that:

• 360 operators have commercially launched LTE networks and service in 124 countries (vs. 572 HSPA networks in 213 countries)
   
• 96 LTE networks were launched in 2014
   
• 611 operators are investing in LTE across 174 countries. This comprises 566 operator network deployment commitments in 166 countries (of which 360 networks have launched), and 45 pre-commitments trials in a further 8 countries
   
• The LTE commercial service footprint extended to a further 27 countries in 2014
   
• 80 operators in 42 countries i.e. over 22% of operators are investing in VoLTE deployments, studies or trials
   
• 14 operators having launched HD voice service using VoLTE in 7 countries. Many more launches are expected in 2015
   
• 107 operators in total, i.e. almost 30% of LTE operators have launched, are deploying or are trialling LTE-Advanced technologies
   
• 49 operators have commercially launched LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation in 31 countries, and this figure could double in 2015
   
• 373 million LTE subscriptions globally by Q3 2014 (according to Ovum) achieving 131% YoY growth. The balance of regional shares continued to shift to Asia, driven by impressive growth in China

See "GSA confirms 360 LTE networks commercially launched by end 2014, strong growth in LTE-Advanced and VoLTE deployments" - here.

GSA: 116 MNOs Offer HD Voice - Even on 2G Networks!

GSA reports that ".. 116 mobile operators in 75 countries have commercially launched HD voice services .. more than 30% higher than a year ago. Mobile HD voice uses Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband (W-AMR) technology, enabling high-quality voice calls in supporting mobile networks and an improved user experience for calls between mobile phones supporting the feature"

"The majority of operators offer HD voice service over a single radio access network, however some offer the service over more than one network system: The system technology totals are:

• 105 HD voice operators use 3G/HSPA networks
• 10 HD voice operator use 2G/GSM networks
• 11 HD voice operator use 4G/LTE networks"

See "116 mobile operators launched Mobile HD voice in 75 countries; 11 operators launched with VoLTE" - here.

GSA: 16 MNOs Deploying or Trialing LTE Broadcast

According to a new report by GSA ",,confirms that at least 16 mobile network operators, working together with LTE systems providers and broadcast content owners, are currently deploying or trialling LTE Broadcast technology in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, UK and the USA".

Related post: "Vodafone LTE Status: Traffic, Video, Carrier Aggregation, VoLTE, Video Broadcast" - here.

".. By using LTE Broadcast enabled by evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) technology, operators can manage network assets more efficiently by multicasting popular content sought by multiple subscribers, e.g. live TV broadcasts, or tailored content for sporting events in stadiums or other venues. Operators can utilise off-peak capacity to deliver new service offerings, which could include rich media caching, or managed software updates including applications updates".

See "New LTE Broadcast (LTE Multicast) status report by GSA confirms global traction" - here.

GSA: 318 Operators Launched LTE Networks; 69 LTE-A; 66 Launched VoLTE

GSA reports that "318 operators have commercially launched LTE networks and service in 111 countries .. Israel [by Orange Israel - see "LTE Services Enabled in Israel - See my Speedtest Results" - here], Madagascar and the Northern Mariana Islands are amongst the latest nations to access commercial LTE mobile broadband service for the first time. 51 LTE networks have launched so far in 2014. The total number of commercial LTE networks is expected to be more than 350 by the end of this year.

.. LTE networks capable of supporting 150 Mbps peak downlink (for Category 4 user devices) are commercially launched in at least 36 countries .. 69 operators, i.e. over 21%, are deploying LTE-Advanced technologies, 15 operators have launched carrier aggregation, including 4 operators whose networks support 300 Mbps Category 6 user devices

66 operators in 35 countries are investing in VoLTE studies, trials or deployments, including 10 operators in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the USA who have commercially launched HD voice service using VoLTE. 

See "Over 50 LTE networks launched this year, total is 318 in 111 countries" - here.