As 5G makes inroads in various parts of the world, there has been a trend of increased data consumption around the world due to the nature of the service, and change in people’s data consumption habits. Now, it has come to light that the average data used per smartphone in the Indian region is the highest globally, at 25GB per month. This is further expected to increase in the next six years.
India and 5G
Ericsson Mobility Report 2022 states that rapid 5G deployments by Indian service providers will increase the reach of 5G subscriptions to around 31 million by the end of 2022 and 690 million by the end of 2028.
Report added, ” 5G will represent around 53 percent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2028.”
As far as 4G is concerned, the report’s findings don’t suggest a decline in 4G subscriptions. It states that 4G subscriptions are expected to peak in 2024 at around 930 million and will thereafter start declining to an estimated 570 million by the year 2028.
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“Enhanced mobile Broadband (eMBB) and fixed wireless access (FWA) are expected to be the early use cases for 5G in India, which will help address the concern of the limited fixed broadband penetration levels in the country and improve the data experience while on the move”, the report said.
The report claims that from 25 GB per month in 2022, it is expected that the Data consumption will increase to around 54 GB per month by 2028. Sharing insights about the overall scenario, the report projects that total Mobile Data traffic in the India region is estimated to grow from 18 EB per month in 2022 to 53 EB per month in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 19 percent.
This is due to high growth in the number of smartphone users and the increase in average usage per smartphone. The smartphone subscriptions in India as a percentage of total mobile subscriptions are expected to grow from 77 percent in 2022 to 94 percent in 2028.
The report by Ericsson mobility also highlights the importance of reducing environmental impact by decreasing carbon emissions. “To reduce the environmental impact, the growing data traffic needs to be managed with smart network modernisation combined with a balanced approach to network performance”, says the report.
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Push from Airtel & Jio
With the launch of 5G in India on October 1, 2022, Jio & Airtel have been pushing 5G by all means possible. In fact, Airtel and Jio have expanded their respective 5G services in various parts of the country within just two months of launch. Where Airtel has its 5G service live in 12 regions, Jio has it in 9 regions. Airtel says it plans to complete the pan-India rollout by March 2024, while Jio plans to do that by December 2023.
“With over 425 million users, Jio’s mission with 5G is to speed up India’s transformation into a Digital Society. This connectivity and technology will help serve humanity by bettering lives and providing increased livelihood,” said Jio during the launch of its True 5G service.
On the other hand, Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal, during the launch of 5G said, ”Airtel has been at the forefront of India’s telecom revolution for the last 27 years. Today marks one more step in our journey as we build the finest network to deliver the best customer experience”.
“For us, our customers are at the core of everything we do. Our solution will therefore work on any 5G handset and the existing SIM that customers have. Our obsession with customer experience is now embellished with a 5G solution that is kinder to the environment”, he added.
Talking about what technology Airtel uses to roll out 5G, the operator uses Non-Standalone architecture. By leveraging a 4G network’s existing infrastructure, Airtel will provide faster and more reliable Enhanced Mobile Broadband without completely reworking their core network technology. In addition, Airtel announced recently that its 5G service has already surpassed 1 million customers, which is in line with the above report on how fast people are adopting the new 5G technology.
Indian government is 5G-ready
Not only this, but the Indian government also wants users to get 5G-ready as soon as possible. ”5G technology will provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable communications. It will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency,” the government said in a press statement during the launch of 5G.
In addition, the government says it is also ready to collaborate with other countries to accelerate the spread of 5G. ”For India, 5G provides an opportunity for the industry to reach out to global markets and consumers to gain economies of scale. Worldwide, countries have launched similar Forums, and thus, India has joined the race in 5G technologies. We are open for collaboration with them”, a government press release read.
Uptake of 5G Globally
Global 5G subscriptions remain on track to top one billion by the end of this year and five billion by the end of 2028. The latest Ericsson Mobility Report 2022 forecasts that there would be five billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2028, accounting for 55 % of all subscriptions.
It adds that 5G will represent around 53% of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2028. Furthermore, on 5G itself, about 110 million subscriptions were added globally between July-September 2022, bringing the total to about 870 million.