LTE has become a mainstream technology given that the number of HSPA subscribers in Asia Pacific is growing at a rate of six million a month, while the number of WiMAX subscribers worldwide has reached only nine million so far, according to Jaikishan Rajaraman, senior director, Asia Pacific of the GSM Association (GSMA).
Taiwan-based manufacturing companies have acquired profound expertise in the development of WiMAX and 3G/HSPA devices which will enable them to play an important role in the development of LTE products, Rajaraman stated.
The development of the LTE technology has come through a string of technologies from GSM, WCDMA to HSPA and to LTE, noted Rajaraman, indicating that there are now more than 2,000 HSPA devices available in the global market, a total of 12 suppliers have offered 51 HSPA+ devices, and another 12 vendors are offering 23 LTE devices.
The number of HSPA subscribers in Taiwan currently totals seven million and is expected to top 20 million by 2014, Rajaraman estimated. Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) and Vibo Telecom are expected to launch HSPA+ services by year-end 2010.