New Delhi, March 20: Since its launch in October 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 5G users in India have been consuming approximately 3.6 times more mobile data traffic compared to 4G, as revealed by a report on Wednesday.
The average monthly data traffic per user witnessed a significant surge of 24 percent year-on-year in 2023, reaching 24.1 gigabytes per user per month.
India’s 5G device ecosystem is rapidly evolving, with around 17 percent of active 4G devices, totaling 134 million out of 796 million, now being 5G capable.
According to the ‘Nokia Mobile Broadband Index’ report, 5G data consumption has been four times faster than that of 4G in India. In 2023, users consumed 17.4 exabytes per month, reflecting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26 percent over the past five years.
The launch of 5G has emerged as a significant catalyst for the growth in data usage, contributing to 15 percent of all data traffic in 2023, the report highlighted.
Tarun Chhabra, Head of Mobile Networks Business at Nokia (India), remarked, “What is immediately obvious is the incredible proliferation of 5G technology across India and the increasing demand for super-fast 5G data speeds.”
The report also revealed substantial growth in 5G traffic across all telecom circles, with metro circles leading the charge and reaching a 20 percent share in overall mobile data traffic.
Future 5G growth is expected to accelerate further with enhanced 5G availability and performance, coupled with the availability of a wide range of affordable devices, along with the introduction of new data-intensive apps and services.
Moreover, the rise of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is anticipated to serve as a key enabler for new services in both home and business sectors. FWA users are expected to consume an estimated 2.5 times more data than average 5G users, the report noted.
