Japan to account for more than 50% of Asian LTE subscriber base by 2015, says Informa Telecoms and Media
Japan will make up more than half of Asia Pacific's forecasted 14.4 million Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscribers by the end of 2015, according to Informa Telecoms and Media. NTT DoCoMo and smaller Japanese data-centric cellco, eMobile, will be among the first to launch LTE services in the region, with DoCoMo planning commercial availability in December 2010 using the 2100MHz spectrum band. As there is not enough spectrum at 2100MHz to support a full LTE deployment. However, DoCoMo will use its newly allocated spectrum at 1.5GHz for LTE come 2012.
DoCoMo is taking a very rapid approach and is rolling out LTE as quickly as possible, bypassing HSPA+ completely. On the other hand, eMobile, has already launched 21Mbps services and view HSPA+ as an important stepping stone to LTE, stated to Nicole McCormick, sSenior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.
NTT DoCoMo, eMobile and China Mobile will be the first to launch LTE services in the region, with Hong Kong operator CSL likely to follow shortly afterward. And, although Asian mobile operators will be among the first to launch LTE services next year, implementation strategies will vary greatly across the Asia-Pacific region.
CSL is also taking the HSPA+ route, while China Mobile is pursuing the other "flavor" of LTE, namely TD-LTE, and will roll-out its harmonized TDD-FDD LTE platform in late 2010. "This year, China Mobile began its commercial 3G platform, TD-SCDMA," noted McCormick. "The service was reluctantly rolled out by China Mobile upon the insistence of the Chinese government, but 2010 will be the year when China Mobile makes its true high speed mobile play with LTE."So far, Japan and Hong Kong are the only Asian countries to have awarded spectrum for LTE purposes, while regulators elsewhere are scrambling to free up spectrum blocks for LTE.
"It's no longer a case for operators whether they will pursue LTE, or not," says McCormick. "Rather, Asian operators are in the midst of a spectrum grab for LTE. Operators are asking not only `what spectrum is coming up for release for LTE?', but `how can I repurpose my existing spectrum for LTE?'"
DoCoMo is taking a very rapid approach and is rolling out LTE as quickly as possible, bypassing HSPA+ completely. On the other hand, eMobile, has already launched 21Mbps services and view HSPA+ as an important stepping stone to LTE, stated to Nicole McCormick, sSenior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.
NTT DoCoMo, eMobile and China Mobile will be the first to launch LTE services in the region, with Hong Kong operator CSL likely to follow shortly afterward. And, although Asian mobile operators will be among the first to launch LTE services next year, implementation strategies will vary greatly across the Asia-Pacific region.
CSL is also taking the HSPA+ route, while China Mobile is pursuing the other "flavor" of LTE, namely TD-LTE, and will roll-out its harmonized TDD-FDD LTE platform in late 2010. "This year, China Mobile began its commercial 3G platform, TD-SCDMA," noted McCormick. "The service was reluctantly rolled out by China Mobile upon the insistence of the Chinese government, but 2010 will be the year when China Mobile makes its true high speed mobile play with LTE."So far, Japan and Hong Kong are the only Asian countries to have awarded spectrum for LTE purposes, while regulators elsewhere are scrambling to free up spectrum blocks for LTE.
"It's no longer a case for operators whether they will pursue LTE, or not," says McCormick. "Rather, Asian operators are in the midst of a spectrum grab for LTE. Operators are asking not only `what spectrum is coming up for release for LTE?', but `how can I repurpose my existing spectrum for LTE?'"
Posts
No comments: