LTE Devices and Applications

LTE is gaining strong momentum and has already overtaken mobile WiMAX subscriptions during 2011. To date, 35 mobile operators have launched commercial LTE networks, a range of 197 devices have become available and the technology is maturing since the first network became live in late 2009. In 2016, Pyramid Research forecasts there will be 592m LTE subscriptions, equivalent to 7.3% of all cellular subscriptions at that time.

The Machine-to-Machine Market

The machine-to-machine (M2M) market is dynamic, serving diverse vertical industries with a range of different devices across multiple networks. Growth is driven by a number of different factors including new regulations, a variety of business models, innovations, falling hardware costs and technological developments. Cellular networks are well-suited to offer the connectivity for a range of different M2M applications, and operators are increasing their focus on the M2M space, particularly in mature, saturated markets. The diversity of the market makes it challenging to address, particularly for mobile operators geared to generating revenue from high volumes of subscriptions with relatively high usage requirements and a limited range of devices.