Global data traffic growth largely led by India: Ericsson Mobility Report

In the January-March quarter (Q1) of 2019, global mobile data traffic grew 82 per cent year-on-year, mainly influenced by the increased number of smartphone subscriptions in India and increased data traffic per smartphone per month in China, noted the June Ericsson Mobility Report. The quarter-on-quarter growth for Q1 was 9 per cent.

India region (Including Nepal and Bhutan) has the highest average usage per smartphone, reaching 9.8 gigabytes per month at the end of 2018. Increased numbers of LTE subscriptions, attractive data plans being offered by service providers, and changing video viewing habits have driven monthly usage growth. Note that the growth could have been even higher, but for the 14-million subscriber exodus triggered by incumbent telcos in India to drive SIM consolidation and higher revenue.

“LTE will remain the most dominant access technology in the region up to 2024, even as 5G subscriptions are expected to grow during this period,” said Nitin Bansal, head of Ericsson India and head of network solutions, South East Asia, Oceania, and India. 

As the transformation towards more advanced technologies continues in India, LTE is forecast to represent 82 per cent of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024. 

5G subscriptions are expected to become available in 2022 and will represent 6 per cent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2024.

In the India region, GSM/EDGE-only (2G) remained the dominant technology during 2018, accounting for 47 per cent of mobile subscriptions at the end of the year. However, the country has experienced strong growth in LTE subscriptions over the last couple of years and, at the end of 2018, it accounted for 38 per cent of mobile subscriptions. Mobile broadband technologies now make up more than 50 per cent of subscriptions.

The report predicts that the total mobile data traffic per month in India is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 per cent, from 4.6 exabytes (EB) in 2018 to 16 EB by 2024. The total smartphone subscriptions in the region will reach 1.1 billion by 2024, growing at 11 percent CAGR, whereas the total mobile broadband subscriptions in India are expected to grow at CAGR of 13 per cent, from about 610 million in 2018 to 1.25 billion in 2024. Mobile broadband technologies now make up more than 50 per cent of subscriptions.