LTE Not Meeting Demand From Smartphones, Tablets

The explosive sales of tablets -- particularly the iPad -- and smartphones are putting pressure on many of the world's carrier networks.

The result is that more robust LTE networks than anticipated will have to be deployed to meet the demand, according to reports by Infonetics Research. Based on surveys of service providers and manufacturers, the reports also found that "phone-based" smartphones aren't likely to make much of an impact for five years, with PC-based devices (laptops, netbooks, dongles, etc.) accounting for the lion's share of the LTE traffic.

"The current mobile broadband device and phones market is increasingly driven by embedded devices and smartphones, with injections of growth coming from new touch screen form factors, such as the tablet, notably the Apple iPad, and e-readers like the Amazon Kindle," said Richard Webb, directing analyst of the market research firm's Mobile Devices practice. "As LTE rolls out, these trends will continue, with device competition intensifying around embedded devices and high-end smartphones."