Europe to lead LTE user growth

European users will lead the charge into LTE with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 50%, says a report from Coda Research.
 
It forecasts that by 2013 North America will have 7 million LTE users, Asia/Pacific 13 million and Europe 15 million.
 
However, Europe will be overtaken by Asia/Pacific in 2016, with the Chinese becoming dominant users in the region.
 
Of particular note, according to Coda Research, is the type of data traffic that will drive this growth in Europe between 2012 and 2017:
  • Video will lead with a CAGR of 93%
  • Audio traffic will see a CAGR of 79% 
  • Data (internet access, etc.) will experience a CAGR of 78%
  • P2P will see a CAGR of 77%
In contrast with all mobile broadband revenues, Coda maintains that LTE revenues will greatest in Europe. LTE revenues in Europe will rise by a CAGR of 47% over 2012, and will form 83% of all mobile broadband revenue in this region, while LTE revenues from North America will form 72% of all mobile broadband revenues for this region.
 
However, Coda warns that, in the short term, operators will face the key challenge of pricing LTE at a rate that is profitable but which does not hinder take up.