A $3.3 Billion Investment

Mobile carriers the world over are expected to begin testing LTE technology on their networks beginning in 2010, including Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS Wireless, and U.S. Cellular in the United States. "Vendors will be shipping base-station equipment in significant quantities in 2010 ahead of limited trials that typically last about a year, followed by full commercial launches," Manjaro observed.

ABI Research expects wireless operators to spend about $3.3 billion on an estimated 142,000 LTE base stations worldwide in 2011. Moreover, the firm's analysts forecast that LTE base-station equipment spending should rise sharply between 2011 and the end of 2012.

Most of the estimated 142,000 base stations to be deployed worldwide will have completely new baseband and RF components, Manjaro noted. "Operators will generally try to keep the new LTE networks separate from their legacy networks," she said.

However, the deployment of all these LTE base stations is only the beginning, noted ABI Research Vice President Jake Saunders. "Due to LTE's propagation characteristics and higher frequencies, operators will eventually have to deploy extra sites to iron out gaps in coverage," Saunders said.

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