Indian smartphone users consume highest 4G data in the world

The smartphone users in India are consuming around 16Gb of 4G mobile data per month, according to the latest ericsson mobility report. The average traffic per smartphone user has increased from 13.5Gb per month in 2019 to 15.7Gb per month in 2020. The average traffic per smartphone is expected to further increase to around 37Gb per month in 2026, as per the report. ericsson claims that the increased consumption of data is primarily fuelled by work from home demands during COVID-19. 4G internet will continue to dominate in India at least for the next five years. ericsson estimates that 5G will represent around only 27% of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2026.

“LTE will continue to be the dominant technology in India in 2026 accounting for 63% of mobile subscriptions. mobile broadband technologies accounted for 67% of mobile subscriptions in 2020, and this figure is predicted to reach 91% by 2026, when the total number of mobile broadband subscriptions is set to reach close to 1.2 billion,” it said. “Low prices for mobile broadband services, affordable smartphones and increased time spent by people online all contribute to monthly usage growth in India. Accordingly, total traffic is projected to quadruple in India, reaching 35eb per month in 2026,” said Patrik cerwall, head of strategic marketing insights and editor of ericsson mobility report.

The report claims that global 4G population coverage will be over 80% at the end of 2020 and is forecast to reach around 95% in 2026. As far as 5G is concerned, ericsson estimates 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2026 and may account for more than 50% of mobile data traffic at that time.n