New Delhi: Telecom company Ericsson has claimed in a report that by the year 2026, there will be 3.5 billion 5G connections worldwide, while in India the number will be around 350 million. Nitin Bansal, head of Ericsson’s network solutions (Southeast Asia, Oceania and India), says that India could get its first 5G connection in 2021 if the spectrum auction takes place early next year. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report 2020, one billion people worldwide, who make up 15 percent of the global population, have access to 5G coverage.
According to the report, by 2026, 60 percent of the world’s population will have access to 5G services and by that time, the number of 5G subscribers is expected to increase to 3.5 billion. The number of 5G subscribers in India will cross 35 crore by that time, which will be 27 per cent of the total mobile users.
India may get the first 5G connection by 2021
Bansal said that India could get its first 5G connection in 2021 as per the announced deadline for spectrum auction for 5G services. According to the report, the average traffic per smartphone user per month in India is 15.7 GB, which is the highest in the world. The report also states that 4G 2020 remains the dominant technology in India. Of the total mobile subscriptions, 63 percent are 4G. 3G is projected to be phased out by 2026.
Increase in monthly usage in India
The report states that in 2020, the number of smartphone subscriptions in India has increased to 76 crores. It is expected to increase from a CAGR of 7 percent to close to 1.2 billion by 2026. Low prices of mobile broadband services, cheap smartphones and people spending more time online are increasing the monthly usage in India.
