Monthly mobile data usage in India to touch 13.7 GB by 2023 : Ericsson

Owing to an exceptional rise in smartphone subscriptions, the monthly data traffic in India is set to grow five times in the next five years.

Monthly data usage per smartphone will increase from 5.7 GB in 2017 to 13.7 GB by 2023, said an Ericsson report. The traffic growth could also be due to commercial rollout of 5G during this period, although Ericsson further projects that 5G subscriptions will become available in India from 2022.

Talking about the dominant technology trend, Patrik Cerwall, Executive Editor - Ericsson Mobility said it sees an increase in smartphones and LTE/4G becoming the dominant technology in the world, as seen at the end of 2017. It is growing very fast, and this change will also be seen in India.

India also witnessed 16 million additional subscriptions in the first quarter of 2018, outlined the report. The total smartphone subscriptions in the country will grow 2.5 times to cross 975 million by 2023.

Besides GSM majority subscription, LTE is going to account for 80 per cent of total subscriptions in India," Cerwall told IANS via ET. Last year, LTE subscriptions in India stood at 20 per cent.

Globally, the report said, 5G deployment will be intensified from 2020. Around 50 per cent of all mobile subscriptions in North America is forecast to be for 5G in five years time.

North America is expected to lead the 5G uptake, with all major US operators planning to roll out 5G between late 2018 and mid-2019, said the 14th edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report that provides projections and analysis of the latest trends in the mobile industry.

Cellular IoT connections also has nearly doubled since November 2017. It is predicted to touch 3.5 billion in 2023. According to the report, new massive IoT cellular technologies such as NB-IoT and Cat-M1 are fuelling this growth, giving service providers opportunities to improve efficiencies and enhance customer value.

In India, cellular IoT connections are also predicted to grow by 2023. It is expected to reach 72 million in next five years at CAGR of 25 per cent.

In the recent past, the country has witnessed a surge in mobile data consumption, mainly with the introduction of Reliance Jio.

Last year, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that with 150 cr gigabytes per month mobile data consumption, India is now world’s no 1 mobile data consuming country. Its mobile data consumption is higher than USA & China’s mobile data consumption put together.