India to Have 330M 5G Smartphone Subscriptions in 5 Years

A report showed on Wednesday that there will be nearly 330 million 5G smartphone subscriptions in India in the next five years, representing around 26 percent of mobile subscriptions in the country.

Globally, 5G mobile subscriptions will exceed 580 million by the end of 2021, driven by an estimated one million new 5G mobile subscriptions every day, according to a report by Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson.

The average traffic per smartphone user in India has increased from 13GB per month in 2019 to 14.6GB per month in 2020.

The average traffic per smartphone in the India region stands second highest globally and is projected to grow to around 40GB per month in 2026, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

COVID-19 has accelerated India’s digital transformation as more and more consumers rely on digital services — be it digital payments, remote health consultations, online retail, or video conferencing – to fulfill their business or personal needs,- Nitin Bansal, Head of Ericsson India.

“The average traffic per smartphone in the India region stands second highest globally and is projected to grow to around 40GB per month in 2026,” added Bansal, also Head of Network Solutions for Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India, Ericsson.

5G subscriptions with a 5G-capable device grew by 70 million during the first quarter of 2021

About 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions and 60 percent 5G population coverage are forecast by the end of 2026.

However, the pace of adoption varies widely by region.

Europe is off to a slower start and has continued to fall far behind China, the US, Korea, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets in the pace of 5G deployments, the report noted.

5G is expected to surpass a billion subscriptions two years ahead of the 4G LTE timeline for the same milestone.

“Key factors behind that include China’s earlier commitment to 5G and the earlier availability and increasing affordability of commercial 5G devices. More than 300 5G smartphone models have already been announced or launched commercially,” the report added.