Subscribers on 4G phones expected to cross 90M in 5 years

By Mickey Alam Khan

February 29, 2008

ABI expects the total number of CDMA2000 subscribers, including 1x and several versions of EV-DO, to reach 800 million by the end of 2013

The number of 4G subscribers worldwide will cross 90 million in 2013, according to data that includes LTE and WiMax users.

Data from ABI Research also showed that the number of WCDMA subscribers, including HSPA, will touch 720 million in 2013, from 180 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. The migration to the HSPA+ and LTE networks will start in two years’ time.

“Some operators may not be ready to move on to LTE, as the peak data rates of 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink are achievable only with a 20 MHz spectrum band,” said ABI research analyst Hwai Lin Khor in a statement from Singapore.

“That is a luxury that most operators may not have, and many may be content with the capabilities of HSPA+ or settle for suboptimal LTE data rates with whatever they have at the time,” he said.

Though the long-term prospects of the CDMA2000 standard compared with UMB may look uncertain, wireless carriers using CDMA are taking advantage of upgrade possibilities, ABI said. Many carriers already upgraded portions of their networks last year to EV-DO Rev A, while newer entrants start with Rev A.

ABI expects the total number of CDMA2000 subscribers, including 1x and several versions of EV-DO, to reach 800 million by the end of 2013.

Meanwhile, the firm estimates that there were about 3.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide at the end of the fourth quarter of last year. Of them, 2.7 billion are on GSM/EDGE/GPRS networks.