5G to represent 18% mobile subscriptions in India by 2025: Ericsson
2 min read . Updated: 16 Jun 2020, 06:22 PM IST
Premium- The spread of covid-19 across the world and subsequent lockdown restrictions have led to measurable changes in the usage of both fixed and mobile networks
NEW DELHI: India has the highest average monthly usage per smartphone at present and is projected to have around 410 million additional smartphone users by 2025. The average traffic per smartphone is expected to increase to around 25GB per month in 2025, with total traffic projected to triple, reaching 21EB per month by 2025, according to a Ericcson Mobility report.
The spread of covid-19 across the world and subsequent lockdown restrictions have caused measurable changes in the usage of both fixed and mobile networks, the report said.
In India, the average monthly mobile data usage per smartphone continues to show robust growth, driven by the rapid adoption of 4G. Low prices for mobile broadband services, affordable smartphones and people’s changing habits of video viewing have also continued to steer monthly usage growth.
The number of smartphone subscriptions has increased to 620 million in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 9%, reaching 1 billion by 2025. LTE (a 4G mobile communication standard) remains the dominant technology, accounting for 49% of mobile subscriptions in 2019 and will continue to be the market leader, representing 64% of mobile subscriptions in 2025.
In India, LTE subscriptions are forecast to increase from 550 million in 2019 to 820 million in 2025, increasing at a CAGR of 7%.
The report said mobile broadband technologies accounted for 58% subscriptions in 2019, and this may reach 82% by 2025. The total number of mobile broadband subscriptions is set to exceed 1 billion by 2025.
“5G will represent around 18% of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2025," said Patrik Cerwall, head of strategic marketing insights and executive editor of the Ericsson Mobility Report.
Globally, the number of 5G subscriptions will top 190 million by the end of 2020 and 2.8 billion by the end of 2025.
While 5G subscription growth in some markets has slowed as a result of the pandemic, this has been offset by other markets, prompting Ericsson to raise its year-end global forecast.
Ericsson expects that by 2030, up to $700 billion of 5G-enabled, business-to-business value could be addressed by service providers. In India, the projected value of the 5G-enabled digitalisation revenue will be approximately $17 billion by 2030.
“It is key to invest in 4G in India, to excel in 5G. Here, private networks represent a very important first step and fundamental to building a momentum in serving a wide array of 5G-enabled use cases. Mobile technology is an unmatched connectivity foundation for the digital transformation of any industry, and any product, anywhere in the world," said Nitin Bansal, Head of Network Solutions, Southeast Asia, Oceania and India.
The latest Ericsson Mobility Report also shows that mobile and fixed networks are increasingly playing an even bigger part of critical national infrastructure as the covid-19 crisis has prompted people to work or study from home, said Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice-president and Head of Networks, Ericsson.
The largest share of the traffic increase has been absorbed by fixed residential networks, which has experienced a 20-100% growth. But many service providers also noticed a spike in demand on their mobile network.
