5G Users In India Consume 3.6x More Data Compared To 4G Users: Nokia MBiT Report

5G users in India are consuming 3.6 times more mobile data as compared to 4G users since its rollout in October 2022, according to a report by telecom gear maker Nokia.

In the report titled 'Mobile Broadband Index', released on Wednesday, Nokia said that 5G contributed to 15% of all data traffic in 2023.

"5G users are using approximately 3.6 times as much mobile data traffic compared to 4G since its launch in October 2022. In 2023, users consumed 17.4 exabytes per month with a compound annual growth rate of 26% over the past five years.

"The launch of 5G has emerged as a significant catalyst for the growth in data usage, contributing to 15% of all data traffic in 2023," the report said.

The 5G device ecosystem in India is rapidly evolving, with approximately 17 per cent of active 4G devices, totalling 134 million out of 796 million, now being 5G capable, it said.

"The data consumption in India has increased 20 per cent year-on-year to 17.4 exabytes per month. It is one of the highest data consumption in the world. On average, an individual subscriber is consuming 24 GB of data per month. This shows the appetite for data consumption in India is too high," Nokia India - head of marketing and corporate affairs, Amit Marwah said.

The report found that 5G traffic has shown substantial growth across all telecom circles in India, with metro circles leading the charge and reaching a 20% share in the overall mobile data traffic.

"Enhanced 5G availability and performance, coupled with the availability of a wide range of affordable devices, as well as the introduction of new data-intensive apps and services, will accelerate future 5G growth. The average monthly data traffic per user also surged by 24% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 24.1 gigabytes per user per month," the report said.