City
Epaper

Data usage per smartphone highest in India: Ericsson

By IANS | Updated: June 19, 2019 18:10 IST

With the availability of attractive data plans and higher video consumption among young users, monthly data usage per smartphone in India rose to 9.8 gigabytes (GB) at the end of 2018, the highest in the world, according to a Ericsson report on Wednesday.

Open in App

Monthly data usage per smartphone would grow at 11 per cent to reach 18 GB by 2024 from 9.8 GB in 2018, said the Ericsson Mobility Report.

The mobile data traffic a month in India was expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 per cent to 16 exabytes (EB) by 2024 from 4.6 EB in 2018, it added.

According to the report, mobile video traffic is fuelling the data traffic growth as users are spending more time streaming and sharing video.

As the evolution towards more advanced technologies continues in India, LTE (4G) is forecast to represent 82 per cent of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024 compared with 38 per cent in 2018.

The LTE subscription in India is expected to grow at 17 per cent CAGR from 450 million in 2018 to 1.16 billion in 2024.

"The 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," Nitin Bansal, Head of Ericsson India and Head of Network Solutions, South East Asia, Oceania and India, said in a statement.

The total mobile subscriptions in the world was around 7.9 billion in the first quarter of 2019, with 44 million subscriptions added in the quarter.

However, in India, the number of subscriptions declined by 14 million, mainly due to introduction of a minimum regular recharge amount by some large operators to tackle low-paying users and increase average revenue per user (ARPU), the report added.

The number of smartphone subscriptions is forecast to reach 7.2 billion in 2024. At the end of 2018, there were 5.1 billion smartphone subscribers globally, 99 per cent of which were for 3G and 4G, said the report.

The smartphone subscription in India would reach 1.1 billion by 2024, growing at 11 per cent, whereas the mobile broadband subscription in the region might grow at 13 per cent to 1.25 billion in 2024 from 610 million in 2018, the report added.

The June 2019 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts 1.9 billion 5G subscriptions up from 1.5 billion forecast in the November 2018 edition an increase of 27 per cent.

"Based on the latest Consumer Lab study by Ericsson, we have found that Indian smartphone users are willing to pay more than 66 per cent premium for 5G services," Bansal said.

"In fact, more than half of smartphone users in India expect their own provider to switch to 5G or will wait a maximum of six months before moving to another provider that does," Bansal remarked.

( With inputs from IANS )

Open in App

Related Stories

EntertainmentEmmys 2025: Selena Gomez radiates love in red as she poses with fiance Benny Blanco

OpinionsNepal, a Victim Of Conspiracies

InternationalFinal stage of Spain's Vuelta cycling race cancelled due to disruption by pro-Palestine demonstrators

InternationalAfghan refugees deported from Pakistan report hardships

InternationalHigh alert issued Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following rain forecast between September 15 to 19

कारोबार Realted Stories

BusinessI-T Department refutes reports on ITR filing date extension, Sep 15 remains deadline

BusinessNew polypropylene plant to boost jobs, economic growth in Assam: Hardeep Puri

BusinessSpiceJet says salary delay part of ‘phased disbursement schedule’ during lean periods

BusinessUP govt charts roadmap for $6 trillion economy by 2047; special focus on AI, green energy, agri-tech sectors

BusinessPM Modi to launch ‘Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan’ on Sep 17