There were close to half a billion LTE subscribers in the world at the end of 2014, according to new data published on Wednesday.
Given the rate at which adoption of the technology is growing, it is safe to say that the figure has since surpassed the 500 million mark.
LTE subscriptions reached 497 million at the end of last year, fuelled by 115 million net additions in the fourth quarter alone, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reported, citing numbers provided by Ovum.
"LTE has quickly built a huge momentum across the world with a rapidly expanding footprint," GSA president Joe Barrett said, in a statement.
"LTE net subscription additions in Q4 2014 were 45% higher than in the previous quarter," he added.
As expected, the Asia-Pacific region is beginning to dominate the global stage, in volume terms at least.
The Asia-Pacific was home to 47% of the world’s LTE connections by the end of the year, up from 40% six months earlier.
This is doubtless in part linked to the rapid uptake of China Mobile’s TD-LTE service, which claimed 106.8 million customers at the end of January.
According to the GSA, there were 54.3 million net LTE additions in China in the fourth quarter alone.
North America remains the second-largest global market, accounting for 33% of LTE subs at year-end, down from 42.3% at the end of June, while Europe grew its share to 16% from 14.3% over the same period.
The GSA predicts that at least 86 LTE networks will launch commercially this year, taking the total to 450 worldwide.
