There will be around 109 million LTE connections by 2014, and 55 million Mobile WiMAX users, but the two 4G technologies will still be only 2.6 per cent of the total global mobile connections. "The migration to 4G will be neither easy nor overnight," says a new report from market analyst firm Ovum.
Most growth will come from 3G expansion in this period, with the rise of data rich devices and applications in developed countries, and increasing penetration in emerging economies. However, growth in mobile operators' revenues will drop in the short term because of the recession. They will cross the US$1 trillion barrier in 2011--though this is a year later than previously forecast--according to estimates from Ovum. The recession will cause a short term slowdown in services revenues although "the recessionary impact will be relatively muted compared to other industries, and mobile is expected to recover strongly from 2011", according to analyst Steven Hartley. Article