The number of active 4G LTE connections will pass 1 billion in 2017 and reach 1.8 billion by 2019, Telecompaper.com reported on July 17, 2014. The reportsaidthat 4G LTE connections willmake22 percent of all global active mobile Sim connections.

According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), 168 manufacturers have announced 1,889 LTE-enabled user devices, including operator and frequency variants, along with 300 commercial network launches.

TD-LTE (Time Division LTE - using unpaired spectrum) will play a major role in global deployment, in particular driven by China, Japan and India but also emerging markets. Juniper said there are36 commercial TD-LTE networks and that it expects active TD-LTE connections to show a higher annual growth rate when compared to FD-LTE (Frequency Division) over the next five years.

By 2019, the Far East andChina will account for the majority of 4G LTE service revenues. One ofthree smartphones shipped that year will be LTE enabled, and manufacturers are expected to ship more 4G than 2G/3G enableddevices. Leading Chinese operators China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom recently announced a joint infrastructure company to share network resources.