Nokia has published the findings of its latest annual Indian market-focused Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT). The Nokia MBiT 2024 report highlights a significant surge in mobile data usage in India, particularly among 5G users, who are consuming approximately 3.6 times more data compared to 4G users since October 2022. In 2023, the country witnessed users consuming 17.4 exabytes of data per month, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26% over the past five years.
According to Nokia, the introduction of 5G has played a pivotal role in driving this data usage growth, contributing to 15% of all data traffic in 2023. This indicates a notable shift in the Indian mobile data landscape, fueled by the increasing adoption of 5G technology.
The report underscores that 5G traffic has experienced significant growth across all telecom circles, with metro circles leading the trend and accounting for a 20% share of overall mobile data traffic. Factors such as improved 5G availability and performance, along with the affordability of devices and the introduction of new data-intensive apps and services, are expected to further accelerate the growth of 5G in the future.
Furthermore, the average monthly data traffic per user witnessed a 24% year-on-year increase in 2023, reaching 24.1 gigabytes per user per month. The report also predicts that the emergence of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) will enable new services in both residential and business sectors, with FWA users projected to consume approximately 2.5 times more data than average 5G users.
Additionally, the 5G device ecosystem in India is rapidly evolving, with around 17% of active 4G devices, totaling 134 million out of 796 million, now being 5G-capable.
Looking ahead, the Nokia MBiT 2024 report anticipates significant technological shifts leading up to 2030, including advancements in the Metaverse, AI/ML, cloud computing, and Web 3.0, among others.
While this data usage growth presents opportunities for operators, it particularly favors Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, the only operators to have rolled out 5G in India so far. Vodafone Idea is preparing for rollout, while BSNL lags behind, with the immediate concern being the rollout of 4G services.
