The era of high-tech smartphones and fast-internet has arrived. Smartphone companies such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Xiaomi have been making affordable devices with some jaw-dropping features and specs. While telecom companies like Jio and Airtel are dominating the Indian market with 4G and 5G services. Currently, the smartphone subscriptions in India, Nepal and Bhutan account for 76.7% of total mobile subscriptions. Interestingly, this figure is expected to reach to 93.8% by the end of 2028.
The latest Ericsson Mobility Report (EMR) reveals many jaw-dropping data on smartphone subscriptions, and the percentage of 2G, 4G and 5G connections in India, Nepal and Bhutan.
5G adoption in India
On October 1, 2022, 5G services was launched in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The leading telecom operator Reliance Jio rolled out the service in four cities, while rival Bharti Airtel did it in eight.
There are roughly 1 billion 5G users worldwide. About 31 million of these are from India, Nepal and Bhutan. Surprisingly, the 5G mobile subscriptions in the India region are expected to reach 690 million in the next 6 years. The growth will be fuelled by aggressive 5G deployments by service providers, as well as the increasing affordability and availability of 5G smartphones.
The share 5G of all mobile subscriptions in India will increase from just 2.7% in 2022 to a whopping 53.5% in 2028.
Most Indians still using 2G and 4G devices
94% of all mobile subscriptions in India, Nepal, and Bhutan are currently on 2G and 4G networks, combined.
In India, which as nearly 1.417 billion population, a significant number of people are hooked on to 2G network. Surprisingly, 2G connections are still accounting for 22% of the total mobile subscriptions in India, Nepal and Bhutan. However, this percentage will drastically decline in the next 6 years as telecom service providers are pushing their subscribers to upgrade from legacy to more faster 4G and 5G networks.
Ericsson also estimates that 4G remains the widely used mobile network across India, Nepal and Bhutan, accounting for a whopping 72% of all mobile subscriptions in 2022. However, the percentage is expected to decline to 44% by the end of 2028.
India, Nepal, and Bhutan have a combined total of 840 million 4G mobile subscriptions as of 2022. By the end of 2024, this number is projected to reach its peak at about 930 million. However, the number of 4G users will decline to 570 million by the year 2028, as a result of the country’s anticipated rapid adoption of 5G. The number of LTE subscriptions (4G) will decline at a CAGR of 6% between 2022 and 2028.
