4G LTE netbooks and tablets to represent 20% of LTE subscribers by 2015 - report

21 September 2010

According to a new report from Juniper Research, LTE 4G enabled netbooks and tablets will be used by as many as 20%, or 1 in 5, LTE subscribers by 2015.

Juniper says it found that the many advantages of LTE mobile broadband such as high data rates and reduced latency will result in an ideal environment for the proliferation of new and upgraded end user devices such as netbooks, tablets, digital cameras and games consoles to add to laptops and smartphones.

4G LTE Report author Howard Wilcox gave more details: "Juniper’s view is that mobile operators will be keen to embed a wide variety of devices with broadband wireless connectivity, because they see this as a route to stave off ARPU declines: our forecasts show that there will be roughly as many LTE netbooks and tablets combined as laptops by 2015.”

However, Juniper believes that there are many hurdles for the mobile ecosystem to overcome before this  step change in the connectivity of consumers across the world becomes reality. Not least of these are issues around the availability and customer support for connected devices, and most importantly the business model.

Juniper’s primary interviewing programme covering the entire LTE industry found that:

·         Video streaming and gaming were viewed as the potential top services on LTE – benefiting from the higher speeds and reduced latency made possible by LTE

·         LTE netbooks and tablets are poised to outstrip LTE laptop shipments, especially in the consumer market

·         The industry is looking for answers regarding the types of business models that will replace existing data plans.