69 Crore Indians Will Use 5G Technology By 2028: Report

India’s 5G subscriptions will represent around 53 per cent of total mobile subscriptions in the region by the end of 2028

India’s 5G subscriptions will represent around 53 per cent of total mobile subscriptions in the region by the end of 2028, a new report released on Wednesday said. According to the report, India will have 69 crore 5G users by 2028 and total mobile subscriptions are estimated to grow to 130 crore.

According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, 5G subscriptions in India are expected to reach around 3.1 crore by the end of this year. This is due to the aggressive 5G deployments by service providers, coupled with the growing affordability and availability of 5G smartphones, the report said. This comes as telecom companies such as Jio and Airtel continue to roll out 5G services across the country.

The report said the average data traffic per smartphone in the country is projected to grow from 25GB per month in 2022 to around 54 GB per month in 2028. Smartphone subscriptions in India as a percentage of total mobile subscriptions are expected to grow from 77 per cent this year to 94 per cent in 2028.

The report also added that the 4G continues to be the dominant subscription type driving connectivity growth. 4G subscriptions are expected to peak in India in 2024 at around 93 crore, and from there, will decline to an estimated 57 crore by the year 2028.

Nitin Bansal, head of Ericsson India and head of Network Solutions for Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India, Ericsson, said, "5G will play a crucial role in achieving India's digital inclusion goals especially for bringing broadband to rural and remote homes."

Initially, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) will be the main use case for 5G in India. Bansal said, “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.”

Total mobile data traffic in the India region is estimated to grow from 18 EB per month in 2022 to 53 exabytes (EB) per month in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 19 per cent, said the report. The average data traffic per smartphone in the Indian region is the highest globally at the moment.

Despite current and developing economic challenges in many parts of the world, global 5G subscriptions will remain on track to top 1 crore by the end of this year, and 500 crore by the end of 2028. Between July and September 2022, about 11 crore 5G subscriptions were added globally bringing the total number to about 87 crore.