Mobile data traffic in India to grow 11 times by 2023: Ericsson report

The total mobile data traffic per month in India is set to grow 11 times, from 1.3 Exabyte to 14 Exabyte by 2023, according to Ericsson's Mobility Report released on Tuesday.

The report estimates that the monthly data usage per smartphone (GB/month) in India will increase five times from 3.9 GB in 2017 to 18 GB by 2023. Also, the total mobile subscriptions in the country as per the report stood at 1.185 billion in Q3 2017.

LTE will account for more than 60% of the total subscriptions in the country by 2023 compared to the 12% LTE subscriptions in 2017. The report estimates that there will be around 800 million VoLTE subscribers in India by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 42.5% between 2017 and 2023.

"We expect LTE to be the most dominant technology in India by 2023," said managing director Ericsson India, Nitin Bansal.

Given the current trends, 5G subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by 2023 are estimated to reach one billion, as per the report.

The reports states that 5G will cover over 20% of the world's population by the end of 2023. The first commercial networks based on 5G New Radio (NR) are expected to go live in 2019, with major deployments from 2020. Early 5G deployments are foreseen in several markets, including the US, South Korea, Japan, and China.

Further, mobile data traffic is expected to surge by eight times during the forecast period, reaching 110 Exabytes per month by 2023. This corresponds to 5.5 million years of HD video streaming. Also, all regions maintain mobile data traffic growth, with North America showing the highest average usage per smartphone, exceeding 7 GB per month by the end of 2017.

By the end of this year, Ericsson claims that LTE will be the dominant mobile access technology. It is estimated to reach 5.5 billion subscriptions and cover more than 85 percent of the world's population by the end of 2023. Also, VoLTE subscriptions are projected to reach 5.5 billion by the end of 2023, accounting for more than 80 percent of the combined LTE and 5G subscriptions.

"The latest report highlights trends in mobile subscription and data traffic growth, as well as the industry's effort to tackle the increasing demands on mobile networks globally. As we prepare for 5G, these trends will continue to set the agenda for the mobile industry going forward," said Niklas Heuveldop, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Technology and Emerging Business, Ericsson.