India's data traffic growth in 2016 led by 4G technology: Nokia

High-speed mobile broadband technology 4G drove data traffic in India in 2016, according to a report by Nokia. Nearly 60 percent of the incremental data volume was contributed by 4G.

Nokia’s annual Mobile Broadband Index study shows that “4G was the major source of data traffic across the country in 2016 with 60 percent of the incremental data payload from 2015 levels contributed by 4G.”

The overall data traffic in India went up by 29 percent in 2016. Despite slow penetration, 4G contributed 13 percent to the total data traffic pan-India in a year since launch. In metros, 4G contributed 26 percent to the data traffic. 3G contributed 63 percent to total data payload.

4G and 3G combined formed 76 percent of the total data traffic. While 4G and 3G saw a rise, 2G usage saw a drop in volumes by 13 percent.

“Network expansion of 4G and 3G and a corresponding drop in prices of devices is fueling the growth of mobile broadband in the country. Indian operators will need to explore technologies, such as carrier aggregation, small cells, sectorization, and fiberization, to enhance overall efficiency and increase capacity to meet the growing demands,” said Sanjay Malik, Head of India Market, Nokia.

According to the study, the monthly 4G data usage per customer was nearly twice the average consumption of 3G data.

“4G monthly data usage per subscriber was over 1400 MB compared to nearly 850 MB per subscriber for 3G, primarily driven by faster download speeds over 4G networks and larger screen with higher resolution of 4G devices that accelerated data consumption,” says the study.

Social media and messaging application drove data consumption with nearly 90 percent consumers accessing applications on mobile devices. Videos continued to be main growth engine for data traffic with nearly 65 percent contribution.

Trends for 2017
Industry experts expect both the mobile and ecosystem to remain healthy in India. Capital expenditure by the operators is expected to increase by 10-12 percent year-on-year over next few years, according to consulting firm Analysys Mason.

According to CLSA, as affordability increases, 3G and 4G market is expected to expand to 300 million by March 2018. The network speed too are on a rise with spread of 4G and 3G by operators.

With pick-up in spread of 4G across India, the technology will feed the country’s broadband hunger. Expansion in rural areas too will boost significance and usage of regional and vernacular content.

The government’s digitization drive, Internet-of-things and development of Smart Cities will further increase usage of data.