BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - March 14, 2011) - UMTS-HSPA wireless technologies, part of the 3GPP family which includes LTE, continue to lead the mobile broadband wireless industry in the Americas adding 50 million new subscriptions in 2010 and reaching a total of over 116 million UMTS-HSPA connections at the end of the year, reports 4G Americas, based on subscription data from Informa Telecoms & Media. With the addition of more than 80 million new connections in 2010, GSM-HSPA has widened its leadership margin in market share securing its position as the No. 1 technology in the Americas region.
Of particular note, the market share for GSM-HSPA mobile connections in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 94 percent, adding 66 million new connections in 2010. Of the 66 million new connections in the region, 22 million or one-third of all new connections were UMTS-HSPA mobile broadband.
"The availability of wireless services in Latin America and the Caribbean has already reached 96 percent penetration and data has grown 14 times faster than basic voice services during 2010, supported by the 64 HSPA commercial networks in 27 countries of the region," said Erasmo Rojas, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for 4G Americas. "Pan regional operators obtained very encouraging results in 2010. América Móvil has experienced a consolidated 40 percent wireless data revenue growth and in countries such as Mexico a 28 percent data contribution to service revenues. For Telefónica, Latin America accounted for 43 percent of their revenues in 2010 and data represented 23 percent of mobile service revenues. The challenge facing the operators in the region to satisfy the exploding data demand triggered by new devices and applications hinges on the quick response needed by regulators to release more harmonized spectrum."
At the end of 2010, the U.S. and Canada had 77 million UMTS-HSPA mobile broadband subscriptions and GSM-HSPA-LTE technology continued to add more subscriptions than any other wireless technology with 14 million new subscriptions added in 2010 and market share rising to 45 percent. Customer migration to UMTS-HSPA continued to increase with 27 million new UMTS-HSPA subscriptions recorded in the year ending 2010.
"GSM-HSPA operators in the U.S. had a great year, adding more than 10.6 million subscriptions in 2010," said Mike Roberts, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. "Across North and Latin America, GSM to HSPA accounted for 76 percent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2010, up from 73 percent at the end of 2009."
At the end of 2010, the 3GPP family of technologies North, Central and South America realized:
- 77 HSPA mobile broadband networks in 29 countries -- up from 52 HSPA networks in 26 countries one year prior
- 680 million subscriptions -- up from 600 million from year-end 2009
- 50 million new UMTS-HSPA subscriptions added in 2010 to reach 116 million
Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas, commented, "The wireless industry is moving from an era of voice and simple data, to full-blown mobile broadband connectivity anytime and anywhere with smart phones and tablets. The opportunities offered by HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE wireless technologies for our industry are huge and the future looks bright."
UMTS-HSPA is the fastest-growing mobile technology in the Americas with subscriptions of 116 million at the end of 2010. Operators continue to deploy HSPA, the world's most popular mobile broadband technology, with 77 commercial networks in 29 countries throughout the region.
Globally, GSM-HSPA technologies reached 4.8 billion subscriptions or 90 percent market share. Today, there are more than 638 million UMTS-HSPA subscriptions representing 12 percent of the 3GPP technology family market on 389 commercial networks in 151 countries worldwide.
HSPA will remain the leading mobile broadband technology well into the future. Informa forecasts that there will be 1 billion HSPA subscriptions worldwide by year-end 2011 and 2 billion by December 2013.
For more information and to view a variety of statistical charts on the 3GPP family of technologies, visit www.4gamericas.org
About 4G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Mobile Broadband Technology
4G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to promote, facilitate and advocate for the deployment and adoption of the 3GPP family of technologies throughout the Americas. 4G Americas contributes to the successful commercial rollout of 3GPP mobile broadband technologies across the Americas and their place as the No. 1 technology family in the region. The organization aims to develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 4G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas. More information is available at www.4gamericas.org.
4G Americas' Board of Governors members include: Alcatel-Lucent, América Móvil, Andrew Solutions, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Ericsson, Gemalto, HP, Huawei, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Openwave, Powerwave, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Rogers, Shaw Communications, T-Mobile USA and Telefónica.
About Informa Telecoms & Media
Informa Telecoms & Media (ITM; www.informatm.com) conducts primary and secondary research on the latest trends impacting the mobile communications, fixed communications and TV sectors, on a global basis. ITM's market intelligence services -- World Cellular Information Service (WCIS), World Broadband Information Service (WBIS) and the Intelligence Centre -- give clients access to market forecasts and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as detailed analysis and exploration of trends. These comprehensive and reliable data sources combined with access to a team of dedicated analysts provide clients with essential business tools to assist in their strategic and tactical decision making processes. ITM also organizes over 100 annual events bringing together the industry's leading decision makers.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Vicki Livingston
4G Americas
+1 262 242 3458