Evolution from LTE to 5G -

April 2018 Update

LTE and 5G report based on intelligence gathered as

part of ongoing industry research and available in GSA’s
Networks, Technologies and Spectrum (NTS) online
database

April 2018

©Copyright 2018 Global mobile Suppliers Association 1

 About this report
This report is the latest update in a series of studies published by GSA tracking
the development of mobile technology markets worldwide.

We summarise network trials, deployments, and the availability of services

across a variety of technology innovations and spectrum bands. GSA welcomes
additions to the database of information. The database also contains information
about spectrum bands and bandwidth used, where available. If you have
additional information, please contact research@gsacom.com

The data set for this release was frozen on 6 April 2018. We make no guarantees
that the information is complete, but reasonable efforts have been made to be
comprehensive and accurate. The next update of this report will be in July 2018.

Introduction
LTE is a global success, connecting over one in three mobile users worldwide,
and it is the fastest developing mobile system technology ever. LTE is specified
by 3GPP as a single global standard for paired and unpaired spectrum users.
The vast majority of the standard is the same for FDD and TDD. LTE has evolved
through various 3GPP technology releases covering the introduction of LTE-
Advanced and then LTE-Advanced Pro innovations that have significantly
improved the capabilities of LTE networks. From 3GPP Release 15 onwards,
the community has been defining 5G networks, starting with Non-Standalone
5G systems that will integrate with existing LTE networks, and then moving on
to Standalone 5G systems with substantially different network configurations.

GSA’s Evolution from LTE to 5G report provides an independent in-depth

48 operators status view and analysis of the global 4G/LTE, LTE-Advanced and 5G markets,
in 33 countries
have made public supported by facts, and confirms technology trends. Information is obtained,
commitments to analysed and verified by GSA. The report is published quarterly and referenced
timelines for the by industry across the whole ecosystem.
deployment of
5G Key market facts
There are:

•• 858 operators investing in LTE, including pre-commitment trials.

•• 672 commercially launched LTE or LTE-Advanced networks in 204
countries, including those using LTE for FWA services, and including 111
LTE-TDD (TD-LTE) networks launched in 58 countries.

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 •• 145 commercial VoLTE networks in 70 countries and 224 operators
investing in VoLTE in 102 countries.
•• 241 launched networks that are LTE-Advanced in 115 countries.
•• four launched networks that are capable of supporting user equipment
(UE) at Cat-18 DL speeds (within limited geographic areas)
•• 680–700 anticipated commercially launched LTE networks by end-2018
(GSA forecast).
•• 50 NB-IoT and 15 LTE-M/Cat-M1 networks commercially launched with
58 other operators investing in NB-IoT and 19 other operators investing
in LTE-M/Cat-M1 in the form of tests, trials or planned deployments.
•• 134 operators that have been engaged in, are engaged in, plan to
engage in, or have been licensed to undertake 5G demos, tests or trials
of one or more constituent technologies.
•• at least 48 operators that have now made public commitments to
time-lines for deployment of pre-standards ‘5G’ or standards-based 5G
networks in 33 countries.

LTE deployments
The drivers of LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro and increasingly 5G for
operators are more capacity, enhanced performance and improved efficiencies
to lower delivery cost. Compared with 3G, LTE offered a big step in the user
experience, enhancing demanding apps such as interactive TV, video blogging,
advanced gaming, and professional services.

Deployment of LTE-Advanced technologies – and particularly carrier aggregation

– takes performance to a new level and is a major current focus of the industry.
Interest in LTE-Advanced Pro is high too, bringing with it new, globally
standardised LPWA solutions – LTE Cat-M1 (LTE-M, eMTC) and Cat-NB1 (NB-
IoT) – and new business opportunities.

And whilst LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro solutions have yet to be

deployed by the majority of operators, vendors and network operators are
already looking towards 5G and its potential to meet future capacity, connectivity
and service requirements.

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 LTE global status
The start of 2018 has seen the continued introduction of LTE to new markets
and regions around the world. Although already widely deployed, it is still
being introduced and several countries have recently announced LTE services.
By the start of April 2018 there were 672 public mobile or FWA LTE networks
in service in 204 countries worldwide.

GSA forecasts that 680–700 LTE networks will be commercial by the end of
this year.

In total, 171 operators worldwide have either announced plans to deploy, have
started deployment of, or have been licensed to deploy LTE; a further 15 have
been involved in pre-commitment trials.
Figure 1: Growth of LTE: networks launched each year, and cumulative (including mobile and
FWA networks)

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 Figure 2: Map of LTE not-spots: countries with no LTE networks

Most places without LTE are either in Africa, or are islands in the Pacific or
Atlantic Oceans. Notable exceptions are Bosnia (where networks are planned)
and North Korea. Not-spots that have been filled recently include Mali, Senegal
and Ukraine.

LTE-TDD global status

There are LTE is an open standard developed by 3GPP. The advanced technological
111 LTE-TDD performance of LTE came with in-built flexibility to operate in either paired
commercial
networks in 58 (FDD, or Frequency Division Duplexing, mode) or unpaired (TDD, or Time
countries Division Duplexing mode) spectrum and various channel bandwidths – all with
a single technology. Companies from around the globe contributed to the LTE
standard and its evolution.

The emphasis was always to leverage synergies between the two duplex
modes to the largest extent possible. This allows operators to best utilise their
current network assets, spectrum allocations and various bandwidth needs,
while securing support, choice and economies of scale from the global vendor
ecosystem and to limit potential market fragmentation.

The result is major commonality of the LTE specifications for the FDD and
TDD modes – in fact the vast majority of the LTE standard is identical for both
modes – and the huge global success of LTE.

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 Most LTE deployments use paired spectrum (FDD). The LTE TDD mode is
complementary and the perfect choice for providing high-speed mobile
broadband access in unpaired spectrum. Many operators have deployed
both FDD and TDD modes in their networks. LTE-TDD also provides a future-
proof evolutionary path for TD-SCDMA, another 3GPP standard. LTE-TDD is an
integral part of the 3GPP standard, implementing a maximum of commonalities
with LTE-FDD and offering comparable performance and similar high spectral
efficiency.

There are 111 LTE-TDD (TD-LTE) systems commercially launched in 58 countries.

Recent network launches have been announced by Baktelecom in Azerbaijan
and Cyfrowy Polsat in Poland.

A further 81 companies have received spectrum licences enabling them to

operate LTE in TDD bands, are trialling TD-LTE, planning TD-LTE networks, or
actively deploying them.

Figure 3 shows the different spectrum bands in use in the commercially

launched networks. Band 40 is the most frequently used TDD band.
Figure 3: Distribution of commercial TDD networks by band

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 Spectrum for LTE deployments
Pressure for spectrum is high and operators need to deploy the most efficient
technologies available. LTE can be deployed in existing 2G or 3G bands, and/or
new bands, e.g. 2.6 GHz or digital dividend spectrum (700/800 MHz) for more
geographical coverage and improved in-building performance.

The most used bands in commercial LTE networks are 1800 MHz (band 3),
which is a mainstream choice for LTE in most regions; 800 MHz (band 20 and
regional variations) for extending coverage and improving in-building services;
2.6 GHz (band 7) as a major capacity band; and 700 MHz (with variations in
spectrum allocated around the world) again for coverage improvement.
Figure 4: The most used spectrum bands for LTE and LTE-Advanced services (count of networks
using each spectrum band to deliver commercial services)

Evolutions of LTE standards now completed enable the possibility to extend the
benefits of LTE-Advanced to unlicensed spectrum. There are several options
for deploying LTE in unlicensed spectrum. The GSA report LTE in Unlicensed
Spectrum: Trials, Deployments and Devices gives details of market progress
in the use of LAA, LTE-U, and LWA. Momentum is building steadily and a few
LAA and LTE-U networks have now been deployed/launched around the world.

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 Many recent allocations/auctions of spectrum have focused on licensing unused
spectrum – especially in pockets of spectrum in the 2–4 GHz range – for LTE and
future 5G services. This spectrum is sometimes dedicated to LTE, sometimes
to 5G and sometimes allocated on a technology-neutral basis. GSA’s separate
report Spectrum for 5G: Plans, Licences and Trials reviews spectrum licensing
activity centred around 5G services.

This report will track which of these newly allocated bands are being used for
LTE and 5G, and where.

LTE 1800 global status

LTE network deployment in the 1800 MHz (band 3) is now common throughout
Europe, APAC, MEA, and regions of South America. Band 3 has been established
as the core band for LTE deployments.

There are 320 systems in 136 countries/territories either as a single band or as

part of a multi-band deployment. Band 3 (1800 MHz) is used globally in 47.6%
of LTE networks and it has greatly assisted international roaming for mobile
broadband services. More LTE1800 deployments are in progress. 1800 MHz
mobile licences have been awarded to 350+ operators. Bangladesh, Costa Rica,
Malta, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine have all recently licensed some or extra spectrum
at 1800 MHz for mobile services. In Ukraine it was awarded as part of a recent
process enabling the introduction of LTE in the country.

Many more countries are planning to make use (or additional use) of the
spectrum in this band. Regulators in France, Kosovo, India, Myanmar, Slovakia,
and Thailand are just some of those consulting on or planning auctions of
spectrum at 1800 MHz.

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 Figure 5: Number of commercial LTE 1800 deployments per country (including fully mobile and
FWA networks)

Band 7 (800 MHz) global status

800 MHz (Band 20) is also now firmly established as a mainstream band
for LTE – used in more than a quarter of the world’s LTE deployments – 175
commercial networks in 79 countries. Recent recipients of spectrum include
operators in Kenya, Malta, Saudi Arabia. Other countries looking at 800 MHz
spectrum auctions include several significant markets such as India, Mexico,
Romania, and South Africa.
Figure 6: Number of commercial band 20 deployments per country (including fully mobile and
FWA networks)

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 Band 7 (2.6 GHz) global status
Band 7 (2.6 GHz) is the third most-used band, with networks deployed in
band 7 in 157 commercial networks in 74 countries, and is more extensively
deployed in the Americas than bands 3 and 20.
Figure 7: Number of commercial band 7 deployments per country (including fully mobile and
FWA networks)

There have been recent licence awards in Ukraine.

VoLTE global status

224 operators are investing in VoLTE in 102 countries including 145 operators
with commercially launched VoLTE-HD voice service in 70 countries, up from
134 in 65 countries in January 2018.

In the last three months GSA has identified new VoLTE services from operators
in Bahamas, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, India, Russia, Taiwan, USA, UK, and
Romania.

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 Figure 8: Countries with launched VoLTE networks

Figure 9: Number of launched VoLTE networks by country

GSA is aware of 60 other operators that either plan to deploy or are deploying
VoLTE services. Nineteen additional operators have been identified that are
involved in tests/trials.

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 LTE-Advanced global status
There are 241 At the start of April 2018 there were 241 commercially launched LTE-Advanced
LTE-Advanced networks in 115 countries. Overall 292 operators are investing in LTE-Advanced
networks in
(in the form of tests, trials, deployments or commercial service provision), in
115 countries,
up from 219 124 countries.
networks in 108 Figure 10: Countries with deployed/launched LTE-Advanced networks
countries at the
end of 2017

Some LTE-Advanced networks make use of features that are marketed as LTE-
Advanced Pro, e.g. those making use of carrier aggregation of large numbers
of channels, or carriers across TDD and FDD modes, LAA, massive MIMO,
Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk, LTE Cat-NB1/NB-IoT or LTE-M/Cat-M1.

GSA tracks trials and deployments of a number of these specific 3GPP Releases
13 and 14 features.

The GSA report LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum tracks progress of LAA/eLAA: by

the start of April 2018, there were 22 operators investing in LAA, 10 operators
investing in LTE-U, and two investing in LWA. There were two deployed/launched
LTE-U networks in the USA (T-Mobile) and South Africa (Vodacom, limited scale
deployment); and two launched/deployed LAA Networks (AT&T and T-Mobile
in the USA) with other operators near to commercialisation. Recently, some
early LTE-U pioneers have announced plans to focus on LAA in 2018.

The number of NB-IoT and LTE-M networks are reported elsewhere in this
document.

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 We also track reported fastest downlink speeds in commercially launched
LTE-Advanced networks. There is a wide variation, as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11: Fastest commercial LTE-Advanced networks per country, expressed in terms of DL UE
Category supported

Recent months have seen the introduction of services (in restricted geographical
locations within a few networks) capable of delivering peak theoretical download
speeds of between 1.1 Gbps and 1.2 Gbps. Combined with the availability
of Cat-18 handsets, this means unprecedented downlink speeds for mobile
services users. GSA has identified four commercial networks capable of
delivering Cat-18 DL speeds in selected areas.

The wide variation in downlink speeds is unsurprising, as operators around the

world have different amounts of spectrum (numbers of carriers and bandwidth
of those carriers) that they can aggregate to increase maximum throughput.
They also vary in terms of their deployment of additional features such as the
use of 256QAM modulation and 4x4 MIMO. Note also that some operators
report theoretical downlink speeds; others report live-network tested speeds.

GSA carries out a detailed analysis of the development of Gigabit LTE is its
paper Progress to Gigabit LTE Networks, available on the GSA website (and due
to be updated late April 2018).

Figure 12 shows the proportion of LTE-Advanced networks (for which we

have data) supporting the various UE categories. Note that where we have no

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 confirmed speed data, we assume that the network is capable of supporting
UE Cat-4.
Figure 12: Distribution of LTE-Advanced networks by UE Category
There are 219
commercial
LTE-Advanced
networks in 108
countries

Carrier aggregation has been the dominant feature of LTE-Advanced networks.

Varying numbers of carriers, and varying amounts of total bandwidth have
been aggregated in trials and demos, but in commercial networks, the greatest
number of carriers aggregated (where we have data) is five. Some trials and
demos have aggregated up to 10 carriers.

IoT global status

The first quarter of 2018 saw momentum continue to build behind cellular IoT
networks based on NB-IoT and LTE-M. Most activity involved NB-IoT.

Activity worldwide is indicated in Figure 13. The latest numbers of commercially

launched services and trials as of 6 April 2018 are:

•• 108 operators investing in NB-IoT in 57 countries, including 50

deployed/launched NB-IoT networks in 33 countries , up from 39
commercial networks at the start of 2018.
•• 34 operators investing in LTE Cat-M1 in 25 countries including 15
deployed/launched LTE-M networks in 12 countries up from nine
networks in January 2018.

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 Figure 13: Launched IoT networks by type

5G global status
There is a frenzy of testing of 5G technology and concepts worldwide. We have
identified 134 operators in 62 countries that are investing in 5G technology in
the form of demos, lab trials, or field tests that are either under way or planned,
acquisition of 5G licences, or announced deployment plans (up from 113
operators in January 2018). The spread of global activity is shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Geographic spread of operator 5G investments

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 Detailed analysis of speeds and spectrum used for 5G trials to date is available
in the report 5G Update – Global Market Trials, on the GSA website.

Operators continue to provide clarity about their intentions in terms of launch

timetables for 5G, or pre-standards 5G. GSA is aware of 48 operators in 33
countries that have made statements about their intended time-lines for the
launch of 5G networks.

Figure 15 shows the countries and current planned dates for the earliest 5G
launches in those countries. We have only included countries where operators
have announced their plans, not countries where governments have made
general statements of intent.
Figure 15: 5G network deployment plans announced (earliest launch date per country)

Fourteen operators in 11 countries have now made commitments to launch

some form of 5G-based service (even if on a limited basis) within 2018. GSA
will be tracking this progress.

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 About GAMBoD and NTS
GAMBoD, the GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Data, is a unique search and
analysis tool that has been developed by GSA to enable searches of mobile
broadband devices. It now includes new global data on Mobile Broadband
Networks, Technologies and Spectrum (NTS).

The devices database can be searched by supplier, form factor, features, peak
downlink and uplink speeds, and operating frequency. The NTS database can
be searched by mobile broadband technology, feature, UE category, downlink
speed, and spectrum bands used, and can be segmented by region. Results
are presented as a list or in charts. Charts may be inserted into documents
or presentations, subject to accreditation of GSA as the source.

Access to the LTE Devices and NTS databases are GSA Member benefits. Mobile
operators also have access to the LTE Devices Database. Any company can
subscribe to the GAMBoD databases to gain access to its unique data.

Please contact GSA for more information: info@gsacom.com

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 About GSA
GSA (the Global mobile Suppliers Association) is a not-for-profit industry
organisation representing companies across the worldwide mobile ecosystem
engaged in the supply of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment,
devices, applications and mobile support services.

GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology road-map – 3G, 4G, 5G – and
is a single source of information resource for industry reports and market
intelligence. GSA Members drive the GSA agenda and define the communications
and development strategy for the Association.

Membership of GSA is open to any supplier of products; systems or services

related to the mobile industry and brings many benefits including access to
the GAMBoD and NTS database. The range of benefits includes enhanced
discussion, networking and influencing opportunities on the key industry
topics, and unique promotional/visibility opportunities for your company
name, capabilities, positioning and messages. More details can be found at
https://gsacom.com/gsa-membership/

News/updates: RSS Feed: https://gsacom.com/rss-feeds/

GSA LinkedIn group: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2313721

LTE User Devices LinkedIn group: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4146472

LTE-Unlicensed LinkedIn group: www.linkedin.com/groups/8601576

Twitter: www.twitter.com/gsacom

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Global-mobile-Suppliers-Association-
GSA/123462771012551

Contact
GSA Secretariat

Email: research@gsacom.com

Tel: +44 330 113 1572

GSA website: https://gsacom.com

NOTE: Errors and omission excepted

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