India’s 4G device base surpassed 607 million units in 2020; 5G base at 2 million: Nokia

India’s 4G device base surpassed 607 million units in 2020, reaching a penetration level of 77%, consequently the number of VoLTE devices grew to 563 million in the same year, a new report revealed on Thursday.

On the other hand, despite the unavailability of the latest 5G technology in the country, the number of active 5G devices stood at 2 million, according to Nokia Mobile Broadband India Traffic Index (MBIT) 2021.

“A double-digit growth is expected in 2021 for the smartphone industry as people embrace hybrid work models, e-learning, and consume content over OTT platforms,” the report noted.

However, about 100 million subscribers having LTE capable devices are still on 2G/3G services.

At the same time, the data traffic grew 36% on-year primarily due to the rise in 4G data consumption as 4G subscribers surpassed 700 million mark, with an addition of 100 million of new subscribers during the year.

4G alone constituted nearly 99% of the total data traffic consumed across the country and the average monthly data usage per user reached 13.5GB in December 2020, growing 20% on-year as mobile video consumption increased.

“The launch of low-cost 4G smartphones will provide the necessary headroom for data growth with a significant number of 2G/3G subscribers potentially upgrading to a 4G smartphone,” it added.

On the fixed broadband side, the report noted that India has only 22 million subscribers with significant growth opportunities in the segment.

Fixed broadband access through fixed wireless access (FWA) and FTTx will help in driving new revenue stream for operators as they prepare to launch 5G services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interestingly, despite no 5G, India’s mobile broadband penetration stands at approximately 63% (2020f). However, the fixed broadband penetration stands only at 7.5% (2020f) of households.

“The phenomenal growth in data consumption in India will drive demand for enhanced broadband and fixed capacity. Industry 4.0 with various IoT and enterprise use-cases, immersive applications experience (AR/VR), smart home, factory, and public safety use cases will spur LTE, 5G growth and data usage further,” said Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President & Head of India Market, Nokia.