4.3 Fixed Broadband Internet and NGN among operators to focus on global standards and reach mass markets. LTE is scheduled to see its fi rst commercial deployments in 2009/2010, with wider deployments taking place in 2011-12. For example, the Vodafone Group has confi rmed that it will be launching LTE in Europe in 2012. Booz & Company (2009) note that operators intending to deploy LTE over the next 2-3 years need to have a high-speed fi xed network in place to support mobile broadband service and that LTE deployments will still need mobile stations at closely-spaced intervals connected by fi bre. Since few of the stimulus plans have been initi-ated yet, gains in broadband Internet subscribers fuelled by stimulus funding have not yet been real-ized. ITU estimates that there were nearly 405.9 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2008, up 16% from 349.7 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2007. Although 2008 was a tough operating year for broadband (Insight 12), growth in broadband subscribers over 2008 was in line with long-term trends (Figure 9, top chart). A Confronting the Crisis: ICT Stimulus Plans for Economic Growth 69