Ericsson, a globally renowned telecom gear and technology vendor released an updated version of the ‘Ericsson Mobility Report’ via a virtual briefing. In its insights for India, Ericsson said that with 5G, the average monthly data consumption per device will go up to 50GB per month by 2027 from 20GB per month in 2021.
Dr Thiaw Seng Ng, Head of Network Evolution, SEA, Oceania and India, Ericsson said the total mobile traffic in the India region is estimated to grow by a factor of 4 between 2021 and 2027. The growth will be driven by a rise in the number of smartphone users in the coming months and years.
There Will be About 500 Million 5G Subscriptions in India by 2022
The report said that by 2027, 39% of the total mobile subscriptions will be 5G connections. In exact numbers, there would be about 500 million 5G subscriptions in India by 2022, said Ericsson. 4G’s contribution will be dropping over the years to 55% in 2027. In exact numbers, there would be about 700 million 4G subscriptions in the country by 2027.
Ericsson said that North America will be leading the 5G subscription penetration in the next five years with nine-out-every-ten subscriptions in the region expected to be 5G connections by 2027.
The report from Ericsson mentions that 5G is scaling faster than all the previous mobile technology generations. It is true as 5G smartphone sales are rising in India every subsequent quarter while there are absolutely zero live commercial 5G networks. This is an encouraging sign for the Indian telecom operators as they make their investments with respect to 5G.
One thing that’s worth noting here is that 4G will still be very much relevant in 2027 and this is an opportunity for a telco such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to go ahead and build a strong business around consumer mobile services with 4G launch.
