Nokia Mobile Broadband Index report reveals 5G data consumption four times faster than 4G in India

• 5G users on average consume up to 3.6x more data compared to 4G users
• With a CAGR of 26 percent in the last five years, mobile data traffic in India reached 17.4 EB per month in 2023
• Nearly 17 percent of total active 4G devices in India are 5G capable

Nokia today published the findings of its annual Indian market focused Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT), which revealed that 5G users are using approximately 3.6 times as much mobile data traffic compared to 4G since its launch in October 2022. In 2023, users consumed 17.4 exabytes per month with a 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 highlights a paradigm shift in the Indian mobile data landscape driven by the growing adoption of 5G technology. 5G traffic has shown substantial growth across all telecom circles, with metro circles leading the charge and reaching a 20 percent share in the overall mobile data traffic. Enhanced 5G availability and performance, coupled with the availability of wide range of affordable devices, as well as the introduction of new data-intensive apps and services, will accelerate future 5G growth. The average monthly data traffic per user also surged by 24 percent year-on-year in 2023, reaching 24.1 gigabytes per user per month.

The rise of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will also serve as a key enabler for new services in both the home and business with FWA users expected to consume an estimated 2.5 times more data than average 5G users. The 5G device ecosystem in India is rapidly evolving, with approximately 17 percent of active 4G devices, totalling 134 million out of 796 million, now being 5G capable.

The Nokia MBiT 2024 report also highlights that the years leading up to 2030 will produce major shifts in technology, leading to new opportunities and a digitized and programmable world. The key technology themes shaping the world in 2030 will include the Metaverse, AI/ML, Cloud, and Web 3.0 among others.

Tarun Chhabra, Head of Mobile Networks Business at Nokia (India) said: “We are delighted to release the latest edition of Nokia’s Mobile Broadband Index for 2024. What is immediately obvious is the incredible proliferation of 5G technology across India and the increasing demand for super-fast 5G data speeds. Nokia looks forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand with our operator partners to help them meet customer demand.”

Note: *an Exabyte is equal to 1,000 petabytes; one Petabyte is equal to 1,000 Terabytes

Resources

Webpage: Nokia AirScale Cloud RAN

Webpage: Nokia anyRAN

Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband