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Forecast: Half a Billion GSM/UMTS Subscriptions in the Americas by End of Year
GSM Family of Technologies at 64% Wireless Market Share in Western Hemisphere
| Source: 3G Americas
BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - March 6, 2008) - 3G Americas today announced that by the end of
2008, there will be more than half a
billion mobile wireless subscriptions to the GSM technology family
including EDGE and UMTS/HSPA in the Americas, according to forecasts by
Informa Telecoms & Media. Tremendous growth was posted in the year 2007,
as the GSM family of technologies once again grew its market share as the
number one mobile wireless technology in the Western Hemisphere, with a 64%
regional share of market.
GSM is the only technology deployed in every country in the Americas, and
continues its upward course in the number of subscriptions and share of
market. In 2007, there were 110 million additional subscriptions for the
GSM technology family in the Western Hemisphere, totaling nearly 420
million GSM/UMTS subscriptions. It is forecast by Informa that
GSM/UMTS subscriptions in the Western Hemisphere will substantially
increase, reaching 636 million by the end of 2012, including 186 million
subscriptions for UMTS/HSPA mobile broadband service.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, GSM continues to be the preferred
technology, adding over 95 million subscriptions in the past twelve months
alone. This brings the total to nearly 307 million subscriptions with a
wireless market
share of 80%, up 13 percentage points from 65% at the same time last
year. Emerging markets in Venezuela and Peru exemplify this rapid uptake
of GSM technology, with 168% and 112% annual growth, respectively.
Erasmo Rojas, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for 3G Americas,
emphasized, "3G HSDPA commercial networks are rapidly being deployed
throughout the region, from Central America to the Caribbean, South America
and the South Cone. As of February 2008, there were already 18 commercial
HSDPA networks launched in 11 countries." He continued, "These new HSDPA
networks will enhance the customer's wireless data experience by enabling
robust value added services."
There are more than 700 GSM operators in service across 220 countries.
This includes over 265 EDGE
deployments worldwide, demonstrating the winning combination of
coverage, speed, devices, and low latency provided by the ever-growing
GSM-based technology. 3G services provided by the GSM family's
roaming-capable, backwards-compatible UMTS/HSPA networks are being
delivered across the world as well, with 211 UMTS
commercial networks in service, up from 155 at the same time last year.
The number of HSDPA networks worldwide has nearly doubled from last year,
with 182 networks commercial, including 31 with HSUPA enhanced uplink
capabilities. (3G Americas refers to these 31 networks as HSPA networks.)
Globally, GSM/UMTS gained over 622 million subscriptions in 2007, bringing
the total number of subscriptions to more than 2.9 billion worldwide and
capturing 87% of the global mobile wireless market. Informa Telecoms &
Media predicts half a billion UMTS/HSPA subscriptions globally by the end
of this year. By 2012, Informa forecasts that the 3G
wireless market will include a total of 1.7 billion subscriptions, of
which 1.3 billion will be UMTS/HSPA with a 78% share of market.
Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas, commented, "Operators and
customers around the world are benefiting from their move to 3G. As
customers' demand for anytime, anywhere access increases, operators can now
provide more voice capacity and enhanced data throughput, while reaping the
growing revenues that result from data services."
AT&T's (US) wireless data revenues increased nearly 67% in the past year,
while Rogers in Canada experienced a wireless data revenue increase of more
than 48% for the same time period. At end of year 2007, T-Mobile USA
recorded data ARPU at nearly 16% of blended ARPU.
Pearson continued, "From these statistics, we can see that the transition
to mobile broadband is making a huge positive impact on all players in the
value chain."
For additional information or to view statistics, visit www.3gamericas.org.
About 3G Americas, LLC
3G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of
telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's
mission is to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment throughout the
Americas of the GSM family of technologies, including LTE. They have
contributed to the successful commercial rollout of GSM across the Americas
and its place as the number one technology in the region, as well as the
global adoption of EDGE. The organization aims to develop the expansive
wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled by GSM
and its evolution to LTE. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, WA
with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas, Texas. More
information is available at www.3gamericas.org.
3G Americas' Board of Governor members include Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Cable
& Wireless, Ericsson, Gemalto, HP, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Nokia,
Openwave, Research in Motion (RIM), Rogers, T-Mobile USA, Telcel,
Telefónica, and Texas Instruments.