The latest 4G Americas data puts the total number of 3GPP mobile subscriptions at 5.2 Billion, accounting for 90% of all mobile phone users.

LTE represents only 3.8 million of those subscriptions, or less than 1%, but these are still early days for the technology and great things are expected - as highlighted in the“Evolution to LTE” report from the Global mobile Suppliers Association, where LTE is described as “the fastest developing mobile system technology ever”, based on solid statistics on product announcements and on 248 operator commitments.

In further news on the web, the Guardian Mobile Business Summit, in London, heard an operator prediction that the need for LTE is growing, to cope with a 250% increase in demand for mobile data services over the last four months of 2012 (Source: News reports on Everything Everywhere presentation).

The 4G Americas news, however, tempers optimism with concerns that growth could be stalled. Talking about North Americas’ leadership in LTE, Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas said “…securing additional spectrum is a requirement for continued mobile broadband progress... Without additional spectrum in the region, the leadership position will inevitably fall.”