India grew the most in mobile subscriptions with over 13 million new additions in Q3: Ericsson

Follow Us

India added the maximum 13 million new mobile subscribers globally in the third quarter of 2015, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

mobile-india-network




The report said that China and USA added 7 million and 6 million respectively. Myanmar added 5 million new customers during the quarter, followed by Nigeria with 4 million new subscribers.

Global mobile subscriptions are growing around 5 percent year-on-year. The total number of mobile subscriptions in Q3 2015 was around 7.3 billion, including 87 million new subscriptions, the report said.

The number of mobile broadband subscriptions is growing globally by around 25 percent year-on-year, increasing by approximately 160 million in the third quarter 2015 alone. The global mobile broadband base stood at 3.4 billion at the end of the quarter.

The report said that LTE subscriptions have reached around 850 million subscriptions, with around 120 million additions in the quarter. WCDMA/HSPA added around 70 million during the quarter. The majority of 3G/4G subscriptions have access to GSM/EDGE as a fallback, and GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions declined by 60 million.

Mobile broadband subscriptions will reach 7.7 billion globally by 2021. They account for an overwhelming share of all broadband subscriptions. Mobile broadband will complement fixed broadband in some segments, and will be the dominant mode of access in others.

Many PCs and tablets are used without a mobile subscription, one reason being the price difference between Wi-Fi only models and those with mobile capabilities. Despite this, the number of devices with mobile capabilities and a subscription will increase by 50 percent by 2021.

Ericsson predicts that there will be 150 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2021. It expects that 5G subscription uptake would to be faster than for 4G. In 2021, South Korea, Japan, China and the US are expected to have the fastest uptake of 5G subscriptions.

5G networks, based on standards that will meet ITU IMT-2020 requirements, are expected to be deployed commercially in 2020. Pre-standard, pre-commercial networks are expected to be launched earlier in selected markets. 5G subscriptions will provide enhancements in mobile broadband services, as well as enable a wider range of use cases.

By 2016 the number of smartphone subscriptions will surpass those for basic phones, the report said, adding that smartphones make up the majority of mobile broadband devices today and subscriptions are expected to almost double by 2021, due to greater affordability in developing markets such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Smartphones accounted for close to 75 percent of all mobile phones sold in the third quarter 2015, compared to around 70 percent during the same period last year. Today around 45 percent of all mobile phone subscriptions are associated with smartphones, compared with around 40 percent in 2014, leaving considerable room for further uptake.

Reported By

Having over six years of experience in business journalism, Krishna has a knack for writing on telecom and IT. She believes that tryst with technology is the best thing that has ever happened to mankind. Krishna is a telecom analyst

Recent Comments

shivraj roy :

i feel Vi has improved than what it was in 2022 i usually get around 8-10mbps in very heavily dense…

5G Users Consuming 3.6 Times More Data than 4G Users…

biswadeepmondal :

JioAir Fiber is working very well in KPA & HLR. Sadly they don't have any data only plan.

REP: Airtel Expands Network Footprint in Bankura District of West…

Anonymous :

In line with Airtel's ?49 plan that offers 20GB of data for the same duration.

Jio Brings New Rs 49 Plan

SCKPA :

Airtel is claiming so many things. But at our location there have so many places where airtel 2g signal is…

REP: Airtel Expands Network Footprint in Bankura District of West…

Faraz :

Yes.. Corruption and arrogance is in the core of this organisation since beginning.. & Now even gov wants everything to…

BSNL's Operating Profits Signal a Positve Future

Load More
Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments