LTE May Not Solve Nation’s Telecom Woes (VZ, ATT, DT, AAPL)

The advent of smartphones and their increasing penetration has forced American telecom providers to worry about a potential shortage of bandwidth.

In a recent analysis by Jeffries & Company Inc, it is estimated that 40% of T-Mobile’s (NYSE: DT) bandwidth is taken up by smartphone users who comprise only 3% of its subscribers. Carriers like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: ATT) have attempted to de-congest their networks by proposing to introduce a technology termed as LTE.

While LTE is a superior technology it may not be enough to handle the expected increase in usage of bandwidth due to applications like Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone.