India To Have 31 Mn 5G Users By 2022-End, 690 Mn By 2028: Ericsson

India is set to have around 31 Mn 5G users by the end of this year, and the number is set to reach 690 Mn by 2028, according to Ericsson’s Mobility Report for November 2022. The next-gen mobile networks would account for 53% of all connections in India by 2028, Ericsson added.

“Aggressive 5G deployments by service providers, coupled with growing affordability and availability of 5G smartphones, should see 5G subscriptions in the India region reach around 31 million by the end of 2022 and 690 million by the end of 2028,” said the Swedish telecom gear maker.

Ericsson said in the report that 5G is seeing a faster adoption rate than any other generation of mobile networks ever. It added that 4G connections in India would reach a peak of 930 Mn by 2024, before declining to 570 Mn by 2028.

Nitin Bansal, head of Ericsson India and head of Network Solutions for Southeast Asia, said, “5G will play a crucial role in achieving India’s digital inclusion goals especially for bringing broadband to rural and remote homes. Enhanced mobile broadband is serving as the foundation for the Government’s ‘Digital India’ vision by enabling people to access public services.”

eMMB, FWA To Dominate 5G In India: Ericsson

Talking about the use case, Ericsson’s report noted that enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and fixed wireless access (FWA) are expected to be the early use cases for 5G in India which will help address the concern of the limited fixed broadband penetration levels in the country and improve the data experience while on the move.

The telecom gear maker also stated that by 2028, there would be 300 Mn FWA connections globally.

“Higher volumes of 5G FWA in large high-growth countries such as India have the potential to drive economies of scale for the overall 5G FWA ecosystem, resulting in affordable CPE that will have a positive impact across low-income markets,” said Ericsson, adding that a major telecom player has expressed interest in serving 100 Mn homes and millions of businesses with 5G FWA services.

It is prudent to mention that Jio recently launched its 5G FWA services in public places in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi in late October.

Improved Network Quality & Device Capabilities To Drive Usage

Ericsson’s report noted that India’s average data traffic per smartphone is the highest globally at around 25 GB per month. The same is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% to 54 GB per month by 2028. India’s smartphone traffic remains high due to the low penetration of broadband and dirt-cheap data rates.

It is expected that 5G data would be more expensive than 4G data. However, India’s telcos are currently offering 5G services to users in select regions at no extra cost for the time being. Users across the country have reported getting download speeds of around 500 Mbps on the nascent 5G networks of both Jio and Airtel.

The network speeds are set to increase in 2023 as new 5G devices are expected to evolve with more spectrum aggregation capabilities (4CC DL, 2CC UL and NR-DC), along with improved power efficiency and low-latency capabilities.

India has seen the rollout of the first of its 5G networks, but experts suggest that these 5G networks would not be completely rolled out before the end of 2024. Ericsson’s report further notes that 4G would continue to dominate the telecom market for the next five years or so, as 2G and 3G are phased out slowly.