5G subscriptions in India are forecast to reach around 31 million by the end of 2022 and 690 million by the end of 2028, according to Ericsson Mobility Report released in November 2022.
5G will represent around 53 percent of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2028. Total mobile subscriptions in India are estimated to grow to 1.3 billion in 2028. Mobile operator including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are in the process of rolling out 5G networks in select towns.
Initially, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) will be the main use case in India.
Following the 5G spectrum auction in India in July, a major service provider has expressed a goal to serve 100 million homes and millions of businesses with 5G FWA services.
4G will be the dominant subscription type driving connectivity growth. 4G subscriptions are expected to peak in India in 2024 at around 930 million, and from there will decline to an estimated 570 million by the year 2028.
Total mobile data traffic in the India region is estimated to grow from 18 EB per month in 2022 to 53 EB per month in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 19 percent. This is driven by growth in the number of smartphone users and the increase in average usage per smartphone.
The smartphone subscriptions in India as a percentage of total mobile subscriptions are expected to grow from 77 percent in 2022 to 94 percent in 2028.