The state of internet in India has slightly improved since the launch of 5G. Currently, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the only two telecom companies offering 5G services to tier-1 and tier-2 cities. Although 5G adoption is still in its early stages, a recent analysis by Opensignal shows that it has already begun to deliver a massive uplift in users’ mobile experiences. Surprisingly, the average 5G download speed in India is 16.5 times faster than 4G.
Indians clocked an impressive download speed of 242.1 Mbps on average when connected to 5G, compared to just 14.7 Mbps when connected to 4G.
Interestingly, the 5G peak download speed in India clocked in at 690.6 Mbps, which is 11.6 times faster than 4G peak download speed.
5G vs 4G upload speed in India
While the download speed has always been advertised and asked by many users before purchasing any data plans, upload speed also plays a key role while sharing photos, videos, and other large documents on the Internet or social media platforms.
The Internet users in India, who uplifted from 4G to 5G, experienced significantly faster average upload speeds with 5G than with 4G. The proportional uplift, though, was somewhat lower than what was observed for download speeds. The average upload speeds on 5G connected device was 21.2 Mbps, which is 5.4 times faster than 4G connection.
Due to the faster 5G download and upload speeds experienced by smartphone users, the country has witnessed a big boost in video streaming and multiplayer mobile gaming experience.
When streaming videos over 5G mobile connections, smartphone users reported having a “Very Good” (65-75) video experience. The 4G video experience, however, was rated as “Fair” (40-55). This falls into two lower categories than 5G.
Similarly, a smartphone user reported a better multiplayer gaming experience when connected to 5G than 4G. With a score of 67.9 (on a 100 point scale), smartphone users in India rated a ‘Fair’ (65-75) Games Experience when connected to 5G. Surprisingly, this rating drops down to ‘Poor’ (40-65) when connected to 4G.
Currently, Airtel is offering its 5G services in 12 Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Guwahati, Panipat, Patna, Nagpur, Varanasi and Gurugram, as well as several airports across the country. While, Reliance Jio 5G services is available in the Delhi-NCR region, Mumbai, Varanasi, Nathdwara, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, and 33 district headquarters in the state of Gujarat.
According to a report by Ericsson, the share 5G mobile subscriptions in India will increase from just 2.7% in 2022 to a whopping 53.5% in 2028.
