India’s 5G performance: Key highlights
India ranked 14th in the world in median 5G download speeds reaching 301.86 Mbps in Q4 2023. This achievement was brought about by the massive deployment efforts of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
This year, India has also seen a significant rise in 5G availability from 28.1% in Q1 2023 to 52.0% in Q4 2023. Reliance Jio led with 68.8% availability share, followed by Airtel with 30.4%. The penetration of 5G in the country was also due to the growth of 5G-enabled smartphones. 52% of all smartphones shipped in 2023 were 5G-enabled.
According to the report, the video streaming and mobile gaming experience on 5G networks in India is better than the experience provided by 4G LTE connectivity. Jio and Airtel’s networks have been particularly successful in reducing video start times and latency. Jio 5G achieved 77ms of latency, while Airtel reported 92ms. The video start time for Jio’s 5G network was also reported to be 1.14 seconds, while for Airtel it was 1.99 seconds.
The report also points out that in India, major carriers such as Jio and Airtel are rapidly rolling out 5G networks across the country. By December 2023, more than 400,000 of his 5G base stations will be operational across the country. There has been a significant increase since January 2023.
Additionally, 5G technology in India has been able to show a clear difference in speed compared to 4G. According to the report, the median download speed for 5G in Q4 2023 was 18 times faster than 4G. The median download speed for 5G was 301.86 Mbps, while 4G could only clock in at 16.05 Mbps.
Additionally, less than 10% of 5G users experienced download speeds more than twice the median 4G download speed. This highlights that 5G offers significant performance improvements over his 4G.
The report also predicts that Vodafone Idea plans to further change India’s 5G landscape by launching 5G services by mid-2024. Meanwhile, incumbent carriers are diversifying their offerings with services like Jio AirFiber and Airtel Xstream AirFiber.
Separately, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also planning to auction more 5G spectrum in May 2024. This could provide the telco with an opportunity to further expand and enhance its 5G services across the country.
