Where I am, I won’t see LTE until the end of the decade, if at all.
Perhaps not, but a large portion of the smartphone market is in major urban areas, and the lack of LTE was a major knock on the 4S (though admittedly, even major metro LTE coverage was pretty spotty until shortly before the 5 came out). So for a significant portion of the market, the 5 certainly has a major selling point over the 4S with LTE.
As for myself, I have had my 4S for a year and have no plans on upgrading before my current contract runs out. If I had a 3 or 3GS, or maybe even a 4, out of contract, then I’d probably have gotten the 5. As things look right now, I’ll probably ditch AT&T for a no-subsidy T-Moble plan early next year. I very well may look into getting an LTE-compatible phone then, though I may not want to shell out for the “latest and greatest” model. (That is, if we assume a new model, such as a 5X [for lack of a better name]), by then, I might very well just get the 5 if I can find it cheap enough.)