Nokia MBiT Index revealed significant growth in enterprise spending on private 5G networks and data consumption driven by 5G customers.

5G growth in India

The latest Nokia MBiT Index said mobile data in India will grow more than double by 2024, with 5G as the new accelerator.

5G is gaining momentum with rollout progressing at a fast pace across the country. It is expected to accelerate data consumption, revenue growth, and 5G smartphone sales.

Major 5G uptake is expected starting 2H 2023. Expected 5G data usage by 2024 will be 43.7 EB per annum.

India will have ~150 million 5G subscribers and ~990 million combined (4G + 5G) customers by 2024, Nokia said.

Further subscriber addition will be driven by 5G and existing 2G subscribers of 350 million migrating to 5G and 4G.

Category A and B circles constitute 75 percent of data in India. Category C circle witnessed the highest growth (20 percent) in data owing to aggressive rural deployments in 4G. 5G was launched in October 2022. Service providers are aiming for pan India 5G availability in next 12-15 months.

Private wireless network

India’s investment in private wireless network is expected to reach around $250 million by 2027, Nokia MBiT Index said.

The report indicated that enterprise spending on private 5G networks will be driven by use cases in industry verticals, including manufacturing, utilities, transportation and healthcare among others in India.

Globally, mobile network operators are addressing the opportunity via a mix of technologies and it is expected that the private 5G market will eclipse the private LTE market in 2024 as enterprises leverage 5G as a foundational platform for digital transformation.

Private wireless network is experiencing a lot of traction across the globe: Western Europe, APAC, and North America are among the front runners.

India’s market is evolving as future enterprise business revenues are pegged at almost 40 percent of overall 5G revenues.

Global private 5G/LTE (Capex and Opex) spend is projected to reach $7.7 billion by 2027, increasing at a CAGR of 48 percent (2021-2027).

Global private LTE/5G revenue is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2027, increasing at a CAGR of 23.5 percent (2022-2027).

Total spend on private wireless networks in India will rise to $240 million by 2027 (including managed services, equipment leasing and direct CAPEX by enterprises). India will have 2,000+ sites for private wireless network by 2027. The NON-DIY managed services model will be the primary deployment model used in India.

India will have 372 base stations (BTS) for 4G LTE in 2027 and 2,090 for 5G overall across sub-6 GHz and mmWave.

Globally, Manufacturing, Energy and Utility, Transport and Logistics, and Healthcare will constitute over 76 percent of the total private wireless network market revenue by 2027.

In India, industry verticals such as Manufacturing, Utility, and Transport will constitute over 44 percent of the total private wireless network sites by 2027.