LTE Predicted To Win The 4G Race With WiMAX With 303 Million Users By 2014

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is predicted to beat WiMAX in the race for 4G mobile broadband technology according to market intelligence firm iSuppli.

The market analysts predict that by 2014 LTE technology will have a subscriber base of 303.1 million users, compared to just 33.4 million users with WiMAX.

Mobile broadband services in the UK today make use of 3G based HSPA technology, which have the ability to deliver speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. The reality however is that customers only receive a fraction of that speed, with the national average closer to 2Mbps.

In comparison, the 4G LTE and WiMAX mobile technologies are able to provide peak speeds of between 100Mbps and 1000Mbps, although again, customers are likely to only receive a fraction of these speeds.

Early predictions estimate that subscribers will realistically receive 4G mobile broadband speeds in the range of 8-30Mbps.

“With WiMAX enjoying a two- to three-year head start in next-generation network deployments, it presently enjoys a major advantage in market share in the 4G segment.

However, with LTE supported by most of the leading wireless operators worldwide, it will rise to surpass WiMAX in 2012 and then dominate worldwide during the following years.” – IHS iSupplie’s Principal Analyst, Francis Sideco.

4G mobile broadband deployment in the UK is expected to begin early 2014, following Ofcom’s spectrum auction and subsequent release schedule.