Indians on an average consume over 11 GB data per month: Report

Indians consume average over 11 GB data per month, thanks to cheap data plans, affordable handsets and the increasing popularity of videos, says a study report by Nokia.

The overall data traffic in India increased by 47% in 2019 driven by continued 4G consumption. 4G constituted 96% of the total data traffic consumed across the country while 3G data traffic registered its highest-ever decline of 30% said Nokia - in its annual Mobile Broadband India Traffic Index (MBiT) report.

The report on study for mobile broadband performance in India, also revealed that a growing number of smartphone users, coupled with one of the cheapest mobile data tariffs in the world and the growth in rural internet penetration, have led to the growing popularity of videos in the country.

India data traffic recorded a growth of 44 times in the last four years, from 2015-19, which is one of the highest in the world. The number of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) smartphones grew to 432 million in the country, said the report

Broadband penetration is 47%, which is significantly lower than China (95%) and other European nations at around 95-115% , says the report.

"The average monthly data usage per user surpassed 11 gigabyte (GB) in December growing 16 per cent annually due to increase in up-gradation of 4G network, low data prices, affordable smartphones, and the ever-increasing popularity of videos," Nokia India Chief Marketing Officer Amit Marwah told reporters here.

He added that data consumption in India is probably the highest globally, ahead of markets like China, the US, France, South Korea, Japan, Germany and Spain.

“We believe the migration of subscribers to 4G will continue to drive broadband growth in the country. The Indian telcos will need to consider other connectivity solutions to leverage the new opportunities and to address the growing data consumption,” said Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President & Head of India Market, Nokia said.