According to Nokia’s annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report, average data consumption per user in India reached 19.5GB per user a month in 2022.
For perspective this is equivalent to 6,600 songs.
Data traffic and usage
Unsurprisingly mobile data traffic in the country jumped 3.2 times in the last five years, reaching over 14 exabytes per month.
Pan-India mobile data usage per month grew from 4.5 exabytes in 2018 to 14.4 exabytes in 2022.
4G and 5G subscribers cumulatively now account for nearly 100 per cent of the total mobile data traffic in the country.
5G the next frontier
“India has seen a massive uptake of mobile broadband based on successful deployment of 4G LTE networks.
We believe that 5G will take mobile broadband consumption to the next level in India by enabling new digital use cases for both consumer and enterprise segments,” said Sanjay Malik, SVP and Head of India Market at Nokia.
Total mobile data consumed in India is expected to more than double by 2024.
Over 70 million 5G devices are estimated to be possessed by Indians as of 2022, indicating a strong traction for 5G in the market.
Spending on private 5G networks
The report has further predicted that enterprise spending on private 5G networks will be driven by new use cases in diverse industry verticals, including manufacturing, utilities, transportation and healthcare, among others.
“It is essential that this growth is managed in a sustainable manner while supporting India’s aim to become a trillion-dollar digital economy,” Malik added.
Areas set to see the most 5G investment
As for Nokia’s own plans, it aims to surpass its rivals and lead the Indian market for private 5G networks which it expects to become a $240 million market by 2027.
Nokia India chief marketing officer Amit Marwah said that the first few private networks are expected to start coming up in the next couple of quarters, mostly in the segments of transportation, manufacturing, healthcare and utilities, which are set to see the largest share of enterprise investments.
Possible Nokia-Jio/Airtel collab?
Asides from an independent route it is also looking at partnerships with telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio that own 5G spectrum.
Both the domestic telcos intend to broaden their fixed wireless business segment with Jio targeting 100 million homes connected through fiber in the coming years.
It will compete with Swedish rival Ericsson which has set up a separate unit to scout for private 5G network deals.
Also to note is that commercial 5G rollout is expected to be faster here than anywhere in the world, with telcos ramping up deployments over the past year, as Marwah says.
