Nokia recently unveiled its annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) focused on the Indian market, spotlighting a remarkable trend: 5G users in India are consuming mobile data at a rate approximately 3.6 times faster than 4G users since October 2022. The report for 2023 reveals a staggering consumption of 17.4 exabytes per month, marking a 26 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the past five years. The advent of 5G has emerged as a pivotal driver for this surge, contributing to 15 percent of total data traffic in 2023.
The report underscores a transformative shift in India’s mobile data landscape propelled by the widespread adoption of 5G technology. Notably, 5G traffic has exhibited significant growth across all telecom circles, with metropolitan areas leading the charge, commanding a 20 percent share of overall mobile data traffic. The combination of enhanced 5G accessibility and performance, alongside the affordability of devices, as well as the introduction of novel data-intensive applications and services, is poised to accelerate the growth of 5G in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the average monthly data consumption per user soared by 24 percent year-on-year in 2023, reaching 24.1 gigabytes per user per month.
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The emergence of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is anticipated to be a pivotal enabler for novel services both in residential and business domains, with FWA users projected to consume approximately 2.5 times more data than the average 5G user. Notably, the 5G device ecosystem in India is rapidly evolving, with around 17 percent of active 4G devices, totalling 134 million out of 796 million, now equipped with 5G capabilities.
Additionally, the Nokia MBiT 2024 report outlines that the years leading up to 2030 will witness significant technological shifts, paving the way for new opportunities and a digitally transformed world. Key technological themes anticipated to shape the landscape by 2030 include the Metaverse, AI/ML, Cloud computing, and Web 3.0, among others.
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Tarun Chhabra, Head of Mobile Networks Business, India at Nokia, expressed, “The report underscores the remarkable proliferation of 5G technology across India and the escalating demand for lightning-fast 5G data speeds. Nokia remains committed to collaborating with our operator partners to cater to evolving customer demands.”
