India’s Private Wireless Investment to Hit $250 Million by 2027, Mobile Data Usage to Double Soon: Nokia Report

India's investment in private wireless network is expected to reach nearly USD 250 million by 2027, according to a report by Nokia that also talked of a three-fold jump in mobile data usage in the country over last five years.

Nokia's annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report pointed towards a significant acceleration in enterprise investment and anticipated a major 5G uptake starting second half of 2023.

Enterprise spending on private 5G networks will be driven by new use cases in diverse industry verticals, including manufacturing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare, among others in India, as per the report.

"India's investment in private wireless network is expected to reach around $250 million (roughly Rs. 2,067 crore) by 2027," the report said.

The report outlined that mobile data traffic in India has risen 3.2 times over the last five years. All India mobile data usage per month grew from 4.5 exabytes in 2018 to 14.4 exabytes in 2022.

Further, the average data consumption per user has risen "sharply" since 2018, reaching 19.5 GB per user per month in 2022. To put things in perspective, this is equivalent to 6,600 songs.

The average monthly data traffic per user was pegged at 9.7 GB in 2018 and has grown at 19 percent compounded annual growth rate up to 2022.

At an aggregate level, total mobile data consumed in India is expected to more than double by 2024, Nokia report said.

"The appetite and the need for data in India is really high," Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Nokia India, said.

Over 70 million 5G devices are estimated to have been shipped to India in 2022, underscoring a strong traction for 5G in the market.

Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President and Head of India Market at Nokia, noted that India has seen a massive uptake of mobile broadband based on successful deployment of 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks.

"We believe that 5G will take mobile broadband consumption to the next level in India by will enabling new digital use cases for both consumer and enterprise segments. It is essential that this growth is managed in a sustainable manner while supporting India's aim to become a trillion-dollar digital economy," Malik said.