LTE-Advanced has now been deployed in 100 networks worldwide, according to industry group 4G Americas.
The technology is commercially available in 49 markets, less than two and a half years after the first LTE-A networks were launched in South Korea in June 2013.
Worldwide there are now 430 commercial LTE networks, the industry group said. There are also an estimated 907 million LTE subscribers, a number expected to grow to 3.6 billion by 2020.
“We expect almost all operators to deploy LTE-Advanced, which has a vigorous roadmap of technological innovation,” 4G Americas president Chris Pearson said. “TE technology and its evolution will provide the mobile broadband foundation for future 5G technologies.”
The group's head of communications Vicki Livingston added that LTE-Advanced is still evolving, and will continue to do so even after 5G has been standardized.
“In October, the global standardization group, 3GPP, announced a new technology advancement moniker for the evolution beyond LTE-Advanced called LTE-Advanced Pro. This will be a stepping stone for future network needs as well as the 5G ecosystem,” she said.
“[Currently] 5G development is the focus of much of the industry; however, LTE-Advanced will continue to evolve with creative new features to serve customers for many years before 5G networks are commercially deployed in 2020 and beyond.”