So Far Airtel is the only operator which has launched 4G-LTE Data Services in India. Tikona and Aircel are in a dilemma on what approach they want to take for their 4G LTE Deployments. Here are the two options before the operator – either full deployment or hot-zone deployment. Full deployment means availability of 4G network over the entire city/town whereas hot zone deployment could be done by providing a 4G network in key zones of a city. Operators would have to choose the trade off between higher capex and shorter reach, based on
4g-lte-coverage
South Korea Achieves Full Nationwide 4G LTE Coverage
Korean telcos showed disappointing performance in 2012 due to the heated LTE marketing competition during that period. With all three telcos equipped with nation-wide or near nation-wide LTE networks, the telcos engaged themselves in heated marketing competition to attract more LTE subscribers. As a result, the telcos managed to increase the LTE subscriber portion of their subscribers and finally posted ARPU turnaround, but overall reported weak earnings in 2012.
At this point, we believe
Japanese Telcos Encourage Customers to Migrate to 4G / LTE
The Japan telecom sector has continued to outperform over the past few months mainly because of 1) firm results driven by smartphone expansion, 2) declining concern about price wars as mobile operators encouraged their users to migrate to LTE with higher tariff offerings, and 3) the inflow of funds into domestic defensive stocks. In particular, Softbank and KDDI showed stronger share price performance due to good fundamentals and increasing expectations for iPhone5, which would accelerate their subscriber acquisition pace/market share gain.
LTE with higher tariff and more efficient network will be positive