Nokia Siemens Networks, who provide and manage nearly one-thirds of 2G and 3G Networks for telecom providers in India have come out with some interesting growth numbers on mobile data traffic in India.
According to their MBit Index report, which collected 2G & 3G data from over 300 million mobile subscribers in India shows 54% increase in mobile data traffic in India between December 2011 and June 2012.
While the over all mobile traffic grew by 54%, the growth in 3G traffic (78%) was more than 2G, which grew by 47% over the same period last year. 3G data traffic has seen a surge this year, especially in last 3 months thanks to over 70% slashing on 3G rates, which were un-affordable to most mobile users previously.
The Mbit Index report also revealed that 2G users in India are consuming three-quarters of the total mobile data traffic, on average, while 3G users consume four times more data than 2G users. At current pace, the report expects that India’s mobile data consumption to double by June next year.
Although the 3G consumption has growth thanks to 3G rates coming down and availability of cheap Smartphones & 3G phones, there is still quite a lot of room for improvement in 3G services. Even today, except for most urban areas, 3G coverage is rather minimal. Additionally, 3G data services have lot of scope of improvement in terms of consistent data transfer rates.
In most cases, even today, 3G transfer rates vary a lot from area to area depending on the coverage and network provider.
Other Interesting Highlights from Mbit Index Report
- By the end of June 2012, 3G has outpaced 2G in terms of data traffic growth.
- 2G traffic currently generates over 75% of the total data traffic generated.
- A first time 3G user consumes close to 400 MB (megabytes) of data every month compared to about 100 MB consumption over 2G.
- Recent tariff reductions in 3G services have resulted in doubling 3G data traffic month on month.
- Web browsing contributes 81% of 2G data traffic
- Only 17% of 2g traffic is used for downloading videos.