5G represents 16.9% of mobile data usage in India in Q1: TRAI

According to TRAI, 5G data usage was 8,891 PB in the first quarter of the year

5G data usage accounted for 16.89% of the total mobile data usage in India during the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

During the quarter ending in March 2024, 2G technology accounted for 0.08% of mobile date usage, 3G for 0.56%, while 4G accounted for 82.46% of the total.

India’s mobile data usage saw a quarterly increase of 6.24%, growing from 49,543 petabytes (PB) in the last quarter of 2023 to 52,636 PB in Q1 2024. According to TRAI, 5G data usage was 8,891 PB in the first quarter, while 4G data usage dominated with 43,406 PB. The data usage for 2G and 3G was 43 PB and 297 PB, respectively.

The TRAI report also showed that the total number of mobile data subscribers in India surged from 896.68 million at the end of December 2023 to 913.34 million by the end of the first quarter of this year. TRAI did not disclose the specific number of 4G and 5G subscribers for local operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

In the mobile internet segment, Reliance Jio had 469.73 million subscribers at the end of March, representing a 51.39% market share, followed by Bharti Airtel, with 283.10 million subscribers (30.97%).

Reliance Jio Infocomm has already completed the rollout of 5G technology in India. The carrier has been rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture since October 2022. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel previously said it expected to cover the entire country with 5G technology by March 2024.

Rival operator Vodafone Idea is expected to launch its 5G network this year and is currently in negotiations with vendors for 5G contracts, according to recent reports.

The Indian government recently confirmed it sold a total of 141 megahertz of spectrum across eight bands, including 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz. The government raised a total of INR113.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in the process.

Bharti Airtel was the top bidder in the recent spectrum auction. The carrier spent a total of INR68.6 billion to acquire 97 megahertz of spectrum, followed by Vodafone Idea which acquired frequencies for a total of INR 35.1 billion and Reliance Jio Infocomm, who spent nearly INR10 billion to secure additional 5G frequencies.

Industry analyst had previously said that Indian operators were only expected to secure additional 5G spectrum for licenses due to expire soon in certain telecoms circles across the country.

The government of India was expecting to auction more than 10.5 GHz of capacity spread across eight frequency bands for the provision of a range of services, including 5G. The bands offered at the process include the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz.