CUE APIMobile broadband users in India have more than doubled to 765 million, and 4G traffic has grown 6.5 times over the past five years, according to a Nokia report released on Tuesday.
4G service contributed 99% of the country’s total data consumption and is expected to remain a broadband growth engine for years to come, even as 5G services are set to roll out in India this year, a senior Nokia official said while speaking Details shared of annual Nokia MBiT report.
“Mobile data usage CAGR (compound annual growth rate) has grown to 53% from 2017 to 2021, and average consumer data usage per month has tripled to 17 GB per month. Mobile broadband users have grown 2.2x in the last 5 years. All perspectives of data usage have shown significant growth in India,” said Sanjay Malik, Nokia’s senior vice president and head of India.
According to the report, India recorded its highest-ever shipment of more than 160 million smartphones, including 30 million 5G devices in 2021, with active 4G-enabled devices surpassing 80% and the number of active 5G-enabled devices surpassing 10 million.
According to the report, millennials now spend around 8 hours a day online.
Nokia Head for Customer Marketing and Communication for India Amit Marwah said consumption of short video formats, increasing smartphone penetration in rural areas, time millennials spend on mobile and local content are driving data consumption in India. According to the report, 4G services accounted for 99% of the total broadband consumption in India.
The report shared third-party estimates that 5G mobile services are expected to generate $9 billion by 2026, accounting for 37.7% of total mobile service revenue by 2026.
Mr Marwah said fixed wireless broadband has taken a leap over the past two years, also showing that fixed wireless will be a popular technology as 5G services roll out.
