Active LTE connections are expected to cross the 1 billion mark in 2017 and reach 1.8 billion by 2019, according to a new report from Juniper Research. This will represent 22 per cent of the global active mobile SIM connections by this time, the research company said. Meanwhile TD-LTE is set to play a major role in global deployment. Driven by China, Japan and India, TD-LTE will see an increased network rollout from other parts of the world. Nearly one in three smartphones shipped this year will be LTE enabled, with manufacturers expected to ship more LTE-enabled devices relative to 2G/3G devices. Release