The promoters and other firms linked with the Long Term Evolution mobile network technology have increased in preparations for 4G, according to a report by ABI Research.

The report titled, "Wireless Spectrum, Services and Technology Deployment Market Data," shoed that the LTE will be rolled out in major way next year. Service providers, Verizon in the US and NTT DoCoMo in Japan will launch it by the end of the year.

The report says that if the technology becomes successful it will be a big challenge for WiMAX. The TD-LTE technology can operate in the same bandwidth as existing WiMAX networks. The report also says that if the LTE is successful then there are chances that many existing telecom service providers may shift to the new technology.

According to an analyst at ABI Research, 132 networks have announced plans to launch LTE commercially and moreover Verizon has said that it will introduce handsets based on the technology by May 2011.

However, it does not indicate that WiMAX will be seriously affected. There are 188 networks in trial or under commercial operations across the world. The WiMAX service provider Clearwire has expanded its network and added subscribers. In India the recent auctions concluded will help WiMAX add significant number of subscribers.

There are about 41 network operators that have undergone trials or commercial launches of HSPA+ networks, according to ABI.

ABI Research offers services such as reports, research briefs, other market data products, analyst inquiry support. It offers a complete source of information of all wireless network providers.