S&P: 4G subscriber numbers grew 43% in 2016

Mobile 4G subscriber numbers grew 43% in Europe between the end of 2015 and 2016 to reach 228.4 million, according to Kagan, a unit within S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The figure applies to 14 European countries studied and excludes Russia. Kagan said that the highest 4G adoption rates in Europe are in the Nordics, UK, Spain and France.

“Northern European operators deployed LTE early, particularly in the Nordics, which explains their lower relative 4G growth in 2016 relative to Southern and Eastern European markets where LTE coverage developed more slowly,” said Kagan analyst and report author, Kellsy Panno.

“LTE deployment has developed at different rates throughout the continent, but common characteristics exist among countries that launched early, including higher average GDP per capita, sophisticated spectrum auction facilities, and operator amenability to collocating tower equipment/site sharing.”

According to Kagan figures, European mobile subscribers expanded to 849.3 million at the end of 2016 and mobile penetration reached an estimated 172% of total populations in the 14 European countries for which it has 4G estimates

The 14 markets covered in the 4G research were: the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, UK, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Poland.