Nokia launched the 8th edition of its MBiT (Mobile Broadband India Traffic Index) 2021 on mobile broadband performance in India. These reports highlight that the data traffic in India grew approximately 60 times over the recent five years. That is amongst the highest globally, in 2020.
Commenting on this, Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President & Head of India Market, Nokia said, “5G has a huge potential for value creation in India as the pace of digitization is accelerating. The phenomenal growth in data consumption in India will drive demand for enhanced broadband and fixed capacity. Industry 4.0 with various IoT and enterprise use-cases, immersive applications experience (AR/VR), smart home, factory, and public safety use cases will spur LTE, 5G growth and data usage further.”
The data traffic grew by 36% YoY primarily due to a rise in 4G data consumption as 4G subscribers crossed 700 million and 100 million new ones this year. 4G Data alone comprised nearly 99% of the total data traffic consumed across the whole country.
According to a study, the average monthly data usage per user has reached 13.5 GB in December 2020. That is growing over 20% annually, and owing to an increase in data, subscribers, and, mobile video consumption. Also, All the new users from the rural areas have contributed to the rise of monthly data usage.
Mobile has become the primary source of entertainment and productivity for an average Indian. It is spent approximately 5 hours daily on a smartphone which is one of the highest averages globally. The short video format is one of the fastest-growing content categories. With surging internet users, total time spent monthly on short content is expected to grow at least by four times by 2025.
Here is a list of other key findings of the Nokia MBiT study:
- Overall average data usage per month registered a CAGR of 76% from 2015-2020.
- 4G capable device penetration reached 77% at a pan-India level in 2020 as the number of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) smartphones grew to 563 million.
- About 100 million subscribers having LTE capable devices are still on 2G/3G services.
- Despite no 5G, India’s mobile broadband penetration stands at approximately 63%. However, the fixed broadband penetration stands only at 7.5% of households.
Well with that said, do let us know your opinions on the Nokia MBiT, by dropping a comment below.
