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LTE connections increased at a rate of 2 million per day globally in Q1, according to the GSA.
The number of LTE subscriptions reached 1.29 billion in the first quarter of this year, thanks to net additions of more than 645 million over a 12-month period, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) revealed this week.
The figures, which include LTE-Advanced connections, were supplied by analyst firm Ovum, the GSA said.
LTE connections increased by 182 million in Q1 alone, a growth rate that older technologies failed to match; 3G/HSPA customers increased by 48 million, while GSM subscriptions fell by 120 million, the GSA said.
It predicts that LTE/LTE-A subscriptions will exceed 3G connections in 2020, if not sooner.
"LTE subscriptions were signed up during Q1 2016 at an average of 2 million per day and the rate is accelerating," said Alan Hadden, vice president of the GSA, in a statement.
"LTE is now connecting over one in six mobile subscribers worldwide," or 17.4%, Hadden said.
Asia is naturally the biggest LTE market in the world and its share is growing, its 734 million connections giving it 56.9% of the total in Q1. Its growth is in no small part fuelled by China, which claimed 511 million LTE subscriptions at the same date, having added a staggering 96.3 million in the first quarter, more than half of the world’s net adds.
India has yet to emerge as an Asian powerhouse; its LTE customers numbered 4 million at the same date.
North America is the second largest LTE market with 253 million connections but its share is declining, coming in at 19.6% in Q1. Europe claims a 14% share.
The GSA noted strong growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, which now has 67 million subscriptions, while the Middle East has 46.6 million and Africa 9 million.
There are 503 million commercial LTE networks in the world, the GSA announced recently, the 500th having launched in May.
