By all accounts, the economic downturn of the past 18 months has not taken a toll on service provider LTE (News - Alert) plans. According to Infonetics Research’s second edition of its biannual LTE Infrastructure and Subscribers market size and forecast report, for the first five years of deployment, LTE will be predominantly PC-based, with LTE smartphones expected to hit the market after 2011.

 

“To date, the gloomy economic environment has not adversely affected service provider LTE plans and commitments. In fact, the number of commercial LTE launches scheduled for 2010 has risen from 10 in March to 14 now. As mobile operators initially build their LTE coverage, the E-UTRAN is where the action will be. Later, as the time comes to figure out a way to monetize LTE-based services, the significance of the evolved packet core will rise,” said Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research’s (News - Alert) principal analyst, mobile and FMC infrastructure.

 

And according to experts at Alcatel-Lucent, wireless operators need a migration strategy that addresses their own unique needs concerning time to market, choice of migration path, the importance of a technology ecosystem, VoIP and seamless interworking, as well as spectrum efficiency and CAPEX.

 

Young wireless users are playing a key role in the evolution to next-generation networks, by transforming the way voice and data services are accessed and used for both business and consumer applications.

 

The Infonetics Research tracked E-UTRAN – Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network – macrocells and evolved packet core infrastructure, including the mobility management entity and access gateways. Other highlights of the report include:

 

·         The first major technical deployments of LTE have now started in Japan and the U.S., driven mainly by NTT DoCoMo and Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless, for major commercial service launch in 2010;

·         Peak rates, latency, and spectral efficiency are the chief drivers behind the push to make LTE the universal future-proof mobile broadband platform;

·         The LTE infrastructure market is expected to top $5 billion by 2013, fueled by E-UTRAN macrocell (eNodeB) deployments; and

·         Based on public announcements made by service providers planning LTE services, the number of LTE service subscribers is expected to exceed 72 million by 2013.

 

Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) ispromoting development of the LTE ecosystem through the ngConnect Program, which was officially launched with 14 member companies at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) 2009 in Barcelona. The goals of creating this open LTE ecosystem, company officials said, include: attracting open innovation; enabling new business models; supporting continuous sharing of experience between wireline and wireless access; accelerating adoption of new devices and services; and reducing costs for addressing complex customer requirements.