Nokia has just released its MBiT Index 2023 report for India. The report reveals the trends that have been found in data consumption over the last five years and also predicts where the industry is going with 5G. In the report, Nokia said that the mobile data traffic per month jumped to 14.4 exabytes in 2022 from 12.6 exabytes in the previous year. In 2018, the same stood at just 4.5 exabytes. Nokia said that 4G remained the dominant network source from which consumers got their data (99% share in 2022). The 5G data contribution started in December 2022 onwards. The data consumption is only going to go up from here as more users get access to 5G networks.
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How Much Data on Average did an Indian User Consume in 2022?
In the report, Nokia mentioned that the average monthly data traffic per user grew 13.6% YoY in 2022. In the last five years, there has been a 2x growth in the same. From 9.7GB per user per month (on average), the figure went to 19.5GB in 2022. Nokia said that the average data per user per month is growing at a CAGR of 19.02%. The average data usage per user per month would grow by 136% from 19.5GB in 2022 to 46GB by 2027.
In 2022, there were 730 million active 4G-capable phones in the market. In 2018, the figure for the same stood at 335 million. Out of the 730 million 4G capable devices in 2022, 85 million were also capable of connecting to 5G networks. According to the Nokia MBiT report, the total number of 5G devices shipped in 2022 was 70 million. A wider availability of 5G networks in 2023 is going to accelerate the 5G smartphone growth by 62% YoY.
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In the report, Nokia mentioned that the major uptake of 5G in India would start in the second half of 2023. The expected 5G data usage by 2024 (per annum) would be 43.7 exabytes. The 5G users in India are expected to hit the 150 million mark in 2024. The total 4G and 5G users combined would stand at 990 million in 2024 in India.
There are still several million 2G customers in India. Nokia expects that further growth in subscriber addition would come from the legacy network users switching to the latest-gen network services.
The report also highlights that 75% of the overall data consumption happens in Category A & B circles. Almost 100% of the data consumption is happening through the 4G and 5G networks, which is a good sign for the telcos.
