New Delhi — India is expected to have more than 1.1 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2031, reaching about 81 percent subscription penetration, according to a report released Tuesday.
The Ericsson report said 5G adoption in India continues to grow rapidly, supported by affordable 5G-enabled smartphones, expanded network coverage across nearly all districts and the growing rollout of 5G Fixed Wireless Access services.
India had 430 million 5G subscriptions at the end of 2025, accounting for 35 percent of mobile subscriptions, the report said. At the same time, 4G remains the country’s dominant mobile technology, with 46 percent of subscriptions.
However, 4G subscriptions are expected to decline sharply as users migrate to 5G. The report projected that 4G subscriptions in India will fall from about 570 million in 2025 to nearly 160 million by 2031.
India also continues to lead the world in mobile data consumption per smartphone. Average monthly usage has already reached 37 GB and is expected to nearly double to 70 GB by 2031.
“India’s rapidly growing 5G adoption based on enhanced mobile broadband and 5G FWA is transforming consumer experiences. The robust and secure 5G infrastructure in the country is driving inclusion, governance, and innovation at scale and is serving as a powerful foundation for Digital India,” said Nitin Bansal, managing director of Ericsson India.
The report said commercial differentiated connectivity services based on 5G Standalone network slicing continue to expand globally. In India, a service provider recently launched network slicing-based differentiated connectivity services for postpaid 5G customers, signaling the growth of advanced 5G use cases in the market.
Globally, 5G mobile subscriptions crossed the three billion mark during the first quarter of 2026. Commercial 5G Standalone network slicing offerings from communications service providers also continued to grow.
The report also found that uplink traffic is increasing faster than downlink traffic for most service providers. The trend is being driven by smartphone communication and collaboration apps, user-generated content sharing and cloud storage. (Source: IANS)
