New Tech
The global LTE-TDD market is growing rapidly. A total of 59 business operators in 35 countries are providing LTE-TDD services, a 1.5-fold increase from last year. The LTE-FDD method has been the mainstream so far, while LTE-TDD services have been centered on emerging countries like China, India, and Russia. But advanced countries like the U.S., Canada, and Japan are introducing LTE-TDD services as well. Experts point out that Korea should also take some preemptive actions in the LTE-TDD market using its position as the birthplace of wireless broadband services, which have the same technical roots as LTE-TDD.
According to the General Services Administration on Aug. 2, 59 business operators worldwide have commercialized LTE-TDD services, and an additional 54 companies are making an investment to provide LTE-TDD services.
Mobile carriers that have commercialized LTE-TDD services make up 14 percent of the total, including those that have adopted the LTE-FDD method. It means that one out of seven mobile carriers is providing LTE-TDD services. The number of service providers was 39 in 24 countries as of late Aug. 2014, but the figure has increased by more than 150 percent in less than a year. The weight of LTE-TDD in the global LTE market also grew by 1.5 percent from the 12.5 percent of last year.
At first, Brazil, Russia, India, and China adopted the LTE-TDD method to lead patents and international standards for the 4-gen mobile communication, contributing to the rapid growth of the method. Now, advanced nations such as the U.S., Canada, and Spain are also introducing LTE-TDD services, ushering a boom period in the market.
When it comes to Canada, 4 small and mid-sized telecommunications companies, including TELUS and Bell Mobility, have commercialized LTE-TDD services over the past year, following ABC. A total of 6 mobile carriers are currently providing LTE-TDD services. In the U.S., Sprint, Redzone Wireless, and SpeedConnect have also launched LTE-TDD services. The total population of countries that have commercialized LTE-TDD services has surpassed 1.5 billion.
LTE-TDD tech is increasingly regarded to be attractive to mobile carriers. Unlike LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD does not require protection bands between upload and download bands of frequencies, which is highly efficient. Hence, it is possible for business operators to obtain frequencies from the government at more affordable prices. The problem with the supply of handsets is also being addressed, since a growing number of smartphone makers are using LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD-enabled chipsets, as in the case of the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6.