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Industry group says nine LTE-Advanced Pro networks are up and running.
Gigabit LTE networks will begin entering commercial service by the end of this year, predicted the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) this week.
The industry group said on Thursday that 147 operators across 69 countries have launched LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) services, of which nine can be classified as LTE-Advanced Pro networks.
"LTE-Advanced is mainstream," said Alan Hadden, vice president of research at the GSA, in a statement.
"The number of category nine capable networks (301 Mbps-405 Mbps) is significant and expanding. Category 11 systems (up to 600 Mbps) are commercially launched, leading the way to Gigabit service being introduced by year end," he said.
Indeed, Australia’s Telstra in February was one operator that very publicly stated its intention to launch a 1-Gbps mobile service this year.
Meanwhile, in total, some 521 LTE networks across 170 countries are up and running, according to the GSA. 74 more networks came online in the last 12 months, with the latest launches taking place in Bermuda, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Liberia, Myanmar, Samoa, and Sudan.
While most operators continue to deploy LTE networks that use paired FDD spectrum, LTE TDD is still developing in all regions, the GSA said.
"Currently 78 operators, i.e. almost one in seven of all LTE operators, have commercially launched LTE service in TDD mode in 46 countries," the GSA said.
