Mobile operators across Asia are continuing to invest heavily in their LTE networks in order to provide this important region (which accounts for 60% of the world’s population) with faster and more efficient internet connections.

Operators in countries like South Korea and Japan are well established players in the global LTE ecosystem but the region is also home to many important emerging LTE players.

This year’s 9th Annual LTE Asia conference and exhibition provides a unique platform for discussion over the key technical issues, opportunities, and regulatory & licensing challenges facing operators from these emerging countries, with speakers from markets including India, Bangladesh, Philippines and Thailand leading the discussions.

A report by Analysis Mason[i] predicts that the Asian LTE market will be one of the fastest growing, with 24 LTE Networks being tested. India, Malaysia and Vietnam are the leaders in this market with the highest number of LTE Networks planned and in development. Operators in India and Malaysia are also planning to launch TD-LTE networks. Such an increase in planned LTE networks brings about challenges with regards to spectrum, signalling, monetisation and network capacity to name just a few and LTE Asia 2014 will look to educate delegates on how to overcome such challenges.

For the first time ever, this year’s event will include a dedicated ‘Emerging Markets Focus Session’ which will allow delegates to hear from these key operators who are implementing the latest developments and creating the latest trends in this market. The session will take place on Day Two of the conference and will begin with a case study by Faisal Mobarak, Asst. General Manager, Network Operations Cente, Ollo Wireless Internet. Mobarak will discuss the successful launch of LTE footprints in Bangladesh, particularly looking at the overcoming of technical challenges in the migration from WiMax to LTE and the deployment of LTE for fixed services.

Later the same day, our Wrap Up Keynote Panel will examine ways of enhancing mobile broadband access across the APAC region with an assessment of the future investment climate as well as looking ahead to the growing enterprise and cloud opportunities. The panel will consist of Wing Lee, CEO of Yes, YTL Communications; Roderick K. Randall, Executive Partner of SIRIS Capital; and Dr. Ruchi Dass, Founder & CEO of HealthCursor Consulting Group.

We put forward the question “What are you most looking forward to at the LTE Asia conference,” to some of this year’s event supporters:

“We are looking forward to exploring the various mobile pricing strategies and discover the best practices adopted by various MNOs across the region, and to learn from them where possible, while sharing our own experiences” – Santosh Payal, Manager for Mobile Data and Broadband Services, Vodafone Fiji

“I would like to meet the operators in the region and share their experiences and knowledge on deploying LTE networks” – Anuradha Udunuwara, Engineer, Sri Lanka Telecom

The event will include a number of top names from some of the emerging markets leading companies including:

• Thein Toe, CEO, Red Link Communications, Myanmar
• Mothilal De Silva, Group CEO, Telecom Fiji
• Devid Gubiani, CTO, Bolt Super 4G, Indonesia
• Francisco Claravall, VP for Consumer Broadband Products, Globe Telecom, Philippines
• Richard Tan, Deputy CEO, PT Smartfren, Indonesia
• Dr Ampai Pornprasertsakul, Deputy Director, True Corporation
• Faisal Mobarak, Asst. General Manager, Ollo Wireless Internet

The keynote line-up also includes leading operators and regulatory authorities from the more advanced regions including:

• Jin-Hyo Park, SVP, Head of Network R&D Center, SK Telecom, South Korea
• Kuan Moon Yuen, CEO Consumer Singapore, SingTel
• Sun Tae Kim, Director of SD, EVP, LG U+, South Korea
• Mock Pak Lum, CTO, StarHub
• Aileen Chia, Deputy Director General (Telecoms and Post), IDA
• Patrick Scodeller, CTO, M1 Limited
• Pen San Tang, Founding Director, Packet One/Steering Committee, GTI, Malaysia
• Michiko WAKUI, VoLTE Project Lead, Core Network Development Department, NTT DOCOMO

LTE Asia will take place at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore, on 23-25 September 2014. To plan your visit, to view the full event programme, or to register for the event, then please visit http://asia.lteconference.com/. Alternatively, keep up to date with the event on Twitter using @LTEWorldSeries or #LTEAsia.