One in three mobile lines is already 4G LTE in Latin America

By 5G Americas

BUENOS AIRES, November 6, 2018.- As of June this year, mobile lines with Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology reached a total of 241 million in Latin America, according to data supplied to 5G Americas by the firm of market intelligence Ovum.

In the region, a total of 697 million active mobile lines were removed for the same period, bringing the share of 4G LTE to second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) technologies to 34.6 percent. In other words, one in every three Latin American mobile lines already has 4G LTE technology.

These figures represent a marked advance compared to the previous year, when LTE reached a total of 159 million lines and its participation was limited to 23 percent.

By the end of 2018, LTE must reach 258 million lines and increase its participation to 36 percent, according to Ovum's projections. Meanwhile, by the year 2022, its expansion will extend to 504 million lines and a 64 percent share of total mobile lines.

José Otero, director of 5G Americas for Latin America and the Caribbean, considered that "despite the fact that the entire telecommunications sector is closely following the development of the next generation of mobile technologies, 5G, 4G still has a long way to go. Latin American mobile operators will continue in the near future to evolve their networks to LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro, which present significant improvements for 4G LTE and the basis for the future deployment of 5G in the region."