LTE subscriptions in India to reach 230 million by 2020

LTE subscriptions in India are likely to reach more than 230 million, forming around 17 percent of the total subscription base by 2020, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, which postponed 4G services to 2015 December, are the two top LTE service providers in India.

The Ericsson report said that around 40 percent of the population will be covered by LTE networks by 2020.

WCDMA HSPA subscriptions in India are expected to grow to around 620 million by 2020 from over 120 million in 2014. The proportion of WCDMA HSPA subscriptions in the total subscription base will be touching 45 percent by 2020.

The GSM/EDGE subscriber base is expected to peak in 2015 and expected to decline thereafter as subscribers migrate to 3G services.

TD-LTE to lose momentum
Ericsson said the number of mobile subscriptions in India is expected to increase to approximately 1.4 billion by 2020, resulting in a population penetration of 100 percent.

GSM EDGE technology has 95 percent population coverage. WCDMA HSPA covered more than 35 percent of the Indian population at the end of 2014, and is expected to cover approximately 90 percent by the end of 2020.

Indian smartphone users spend over three hours a day on smartphones and 25 percent check their phones over 100 times a day. Around one third of the time spent on smartphones is used for apps, primarily chat, social media, and gaming. 65 per cent of mobile broadband smartphone users in India prefer video streaming to downloading videos on handsets.

The number of smartphone subscriptions is expected to reach over 750 million by 2020, up from 130 million in 2014. Monthly mobile data consumption is expected to increase 18-fold by the year 2020 over current levels.

70 percent of mobile broadband smartphone users regularly stream videos on their smartphones, and 61 percent use social networks. Indian smartphone users are also seeing great potential in mobile broadband when it comes to facilitating the way they handle their money and personal finances.

Baburajan K
[email protected]