According to TRAI, 5G data usage in the first quarter of this year was 8,891PB.
According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), 5G data usage accounted for 16.89% of the total mobile data usage in India in the first quarter of 2024.
In the quarter ending March 2024, 2G technology accounted for 0.08% of mobile data usage, 3G 0.56% and 4G 82.46% of the total.
India’s mobile data usage grew 6.24% quarter-on-quarter, from 49,543 petabytes (PB) in Q4 2023 to 52,636 PB in Q1 2024. According to TRAI, 5G data usage in Q1 was at 8,891 PB, with 4G data usage dominating at 43,406 PB. 2G and 3G data usage stood at 43 PB and 297 PB, respectively.
The TRAI report also showed that India’s total mobile data subscribers surged to 913.34 million by the end of the first quarter of this year from 896.68 million at the end of December 2023. TRAI did not disclose the specific numbers of 4G and 5G subscribers for local telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
In the mobile internet segment, Reliance Jio had 469.73 million subscribers as of the end of March, accounting for a market share of 51.39%, 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 company is rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture starting October 2022. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel had previously said that it plans to cover all of India with 5G technology by March 2024.
Rival telecom operator Vodafone Idea plans to launch its 5G network later this year and is currently in talks with vendors for 5G contracts, according to recent reports.
The Indian government recently confirmed the sale of a total of 141 MHz of spectrum across eight frequency bands — 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz — raising a total of INR 113.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in the process.
In the recent spectrum auction, Bharti Airtel emerged as the highest bidder, spending a total of INR 68.6 billion to acquire 97 megahertz of spectrum, followed by Vodafone Idea, which acquired spectrum for a total of INR 35.1 billion, and Reliance Jio Infocomm, which spent around INR 10 billion to secure additional 5G spectrum.
Industry analysts had previously said Indian telecom operators are only expected to secure additional 5G spectrum for soon-to-expire licences in certain telecom sectors in the country.
The Indian government was set to auction capacity above 10.5 GHz across eight frequency bands for the provision of various services, including 5G. The bands available in the process include 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz.
