The total number of TD-LTE subscribers worldwide increased to 12.48 million at the end of the first quarter of 2014 and will increase to 70.4 million at the end of the year, according to Digitimes Research.
Saudi Arabia-based Mobily accounted for 28.2% of the 12.48 million subscribers, followed by Japan-based SoftBank Mobile with 27.5%, China-based China Mobile with 22.4% and Saudi Arabia-based STC with 10.8%, Digitimes Research indicated.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2014, 53% of TD-LTE networks around the world were TD-LTE/LTE-FDD dual-mode ones and many TD-LTE operators had transformed operations from WiMAX.
In addition to Qualcomm and HiSilicon Technologies, Marvell, MediaTek and Intel will launch multi-mode, including TD-LTE-supporting, 4G chip solutions in the second half of 2014.
The total number of TD-LTE subscribers will grow to 179.8 million at the end of 2015 and to 276.2 million at the end of 2016.
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