Ericsson, a telecom gear giant, has released its latest report titled '5G Value: Turning Performance into Loyalty'. The report talks about the 5G satisfaction levels of Indians, how many new 5G users could emerge, and the opportunity that 5G presents in the Indian market. As per the study released by the company, over 31 million users could soon upgrade to 5G phones in 2023. That means the telcos would have potentially 31 million more users consuming 5G at the end of this year. Jio and Airtel have both said that they have more than 50 million 5G users on their networks already.
One key insight shared by the report was that Indian 5G users, on average, spent two hours more per week using apps and services such as streaming HD video, mobile gaming, video calling services, and augmented reality than users in early 5G markets such as the UK, the US, China, South Korea, and many more. One of the reasons for this could be the truly unlimited 5G data that users of both Airtel and Reliance Jio get.
Read More - One Year of 5G in India, What has changed
When it came to overall satisfaction levels and perceived 5G availability, India was ahead of the other early adopter markets. Ericsson said, "India boasts a remarkable 13 percent higher share of very satisfied 5G users compared to the early adopter market average. Overall satisfaction increases by a substantial 30 percent when transitioning from 4G to 5G, with higher download speeds playing a key role in driving this satisfaction."
Read More - 5G Experience Centre Launched in Guwahati
Will India Pay More for 5G?
In its report, Ericsson said that "the research shows that one in five smartphone users are willing to pay an average premium of 14 percent for 5G rich app bundled plans or QoS-led offerings.”
This means a very low percentage of users are currently willing to pay more for 5G, and that too is not a significantly more sum of money than what they are already paying for 4G. In India, currently, only 5G FWA (fixed wireless access) services are being monetised. But that too was announced very recently by both telcos so it will be interesting to gauge how meaningful contribution these services make in the lives of the consumers as well as the telcos.
