Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain will pioneer Long Term Evolution (LTE) adoption in the Middle East as LTE penetration rate for these countries is expected to reach 11.8 percent, more than the projected Western European average of 7.7 percent, according to a new report from Pyramid Research. LTE is the trademarked project name of a high performance air interface for cellular mobile telephony. It is a project of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), operating under a named trademarked by one of the associations within the partnership, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. LTE is a step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. Where the current generation of mobile telecommunication networks are collectively known as 3G (for third generation), LTE is marketed as 4G. In the Insider report “LTE in the Middle East: Early Lessons From the Gulf Pioneers”, it was noted that “while the Middle East is a smaller market, it makes up the difference in its potential for growth.” The report said the Middle East's mobile data revenue growth of 34 percent for 2009 compares with only 7 percent for the same period in Western Europe. “We expect LTE adoption in the region to reach 6.1 percent of all mobile subscriptions by 2014, due to strong growth of demand for data services, reliance on mobile rather than fixed access technologies, and the increasingly competitive approaches of the telecom regulators,” he said. “Among the region's LTE pioneers - specifically Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain - we project LTE adoption to reach 11.1 percent of all subscriptions by 2014, which surpasses our forecast of a 7.7 percent LTE adoption rate in Western Europe,” Pyramid Research analyst Kerem Arsal said. Mobile data revenue growth is a result of the absence of strong fixed broadband infrastructure and/or sufficient fixed competition, giving favorable signals to the network operators that are considering LTE deployments in the region. “Throughout the wealthier Gulf region, the absence of widespread fixed broadband infrastructure forced most subscribers to rely on mobile technologies for their Internet needs; as a result, some markets in the Middle East, particularly the Gulf area, have experienced huge leaps in mobile broadband demand,” the report noted. “These are the most suitable settings for LTE, which is likely to begin its life cycle with data cards and connectivity modems. In addition, wealthy Gulf nations have already developed much expertise in upgraded 3G networks; this will lead to a smoother transition to LTE,” Arsal added. Although 3G technologies deliver significantly higher bit rates than 2G technologies, there is still a great opportunity for wireless service providers to capitalize on the ever-increasing demand for “wireless broadband” and take advantage of the technology innovation that improves the economics of deploying mobile broadband networks.
