Half of India to have 5G mobile subscribers by 2030, projects GSMA

India will see an unprecedented growth in the number of 5G mobile subscribers, and an explosion of data usage in the next six years, according to GSMA Intelligence projections. GSMA Intelligence is a market intelligence service that provides data, analysis, and forecasts for mobile and communications industries.

GSMA says by 2030, half of the Indian population will be on 5G, with over 641 million subscribers, growing at 49 per cent — the fastest amongst emerging 5G markets since 2003 — just after Latin America, which is projected to grow by 55 per cent to 425 million subscribers.

This unprecedented growth in 5G subscribers in India will also lead to a massive expansion of data consumption, impelling Indian telcos to make large investments.

GSMA says India’s data consumption per subscriber will grow at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 15 per cent between 2023 and 2029 to hit 68 GB per month per subscriber. That is far higher than the global average, which will go up from 17 GB per month in 2023 to 42 GB per month in 2029. It is also much higher than that in north America, where data usage in 2029 will end at 29 GB per month per subscriber (from 19 GB in 2023). Data usage in western Europe in 2029 is pegged at 49 GB (from 19 GB in 2023).

Ironically, despite the boom, India’s mobile broadband connectivity (3G, 4G and 5G) is still far behind. For instance, based on GSMA, 46 per cent of the Indian population have not connected to a mobile broadband though it is available to them. This is what is called a coverage gap.

That is far higher than Malaysia, which is doing much better with a coverage gap of only 32 per cent, or Australia at 20 per cent. But India’s coverage gap is lower than Indonesia (49 per cent), Bangladesh (63 per cent) and Pakistan (58 per cent).