| NOTAS: | "Overall, 2012 was a strong year for LTE. The number of new commercial networks more than doubled and subscriber growth remained strong. However, much of that subscriber growth remains concentrated in a few markets where operators have been most aggressive in deploying networks. This concentration of subscribers in a few markets most likely won’t change for several years. This is because LTE, which many consider a universal technology, still has numerous hurdles to clear before it is universally used. For example, spectrum remains fragmented or not available. However, LTE at 1800MHz appears to be overcoming some of that, except in North America. Device support remains sparse in many markets as well, with device vendors waiting for more widespread LTE rollouts before fully committing their resources to support some markets, such as Western Europe. However, this limited device support also discourages operators from building out larger-scale networks as the operators lack the device portfolio needed to attract more subscribers and to justify the increased capex investments. Eventually these issues will work themselves out, but it won’t be in 2013 and most likely not in 2014 either." |
