They, though, expect India’s top two telcos to report much higher mobile data usage growth levels – upwards of 20% - a year down the road by when the overall penetration of 5G SIMs (read: 5G mobile connections<\/a>) is slated to jump three-fold.
Analysts estimate the overall countrywide penetration of 5G SIMs to rise from sub-5% now to at least 15% in the next 12 months. This, coupled with the fact that 5G mobile users consume more than double the amount of data consumed by 4G users, suggests that India’s 5G operators will see a surge in mobile data usage levels, they said.
“Amid their rapid 5G rollouts, Jio and Airtel are likely to see exponential growth (easily over 20%) in mobile data usage levels a year down the line, by when the overall penetration of 5G SIMs is also estimated to jump three-fold, coupled with the fact that data consumption levels of 5G users is already almost 2.5 times of 4G users,” Rohan Dhamija<\/a>, head (India & Middle East) at Analysys Mason<\/a>, told ET.
At press time, Jio and Airtel did not reply to ET’s queries.
According to company data, Jio’s monthly data usage per customer rose around 4% from 22.2 GB (in end-September 2022) to 23.1 GB in end-March 2023. Airtel reports earnings numbers for the March quarter later this month, but BNP Paribas<\/a> estimates the Sunil Mittal-led telco could report around 2.7% growth in monthly data usage per customer to 21.3 GB in the quarter ended March from 20.75 GB reported in end-September, FY23. Airtel launched 5G services last October.
Analysts, in fact, estimate Jio and Airtel’s monthly data usage per customer to have risen by another 1% by end-April at current 5G SIM penetration levels and the higher data consumption levels of 5G users.
“Adoption of 5G services has led to higher data usage for Jio in Q4FY23, although the phenomenon was also aided by growth of FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) subs who also use higher data quantities,” ICICI Securities said.
Jio and Airtel have already rolled out 5G services in more than 3,630 and 3,500 cities\/towns, respectively. Airtel is targeting to launch 5G services in all urban areas by September 2023, while Jio expects to do that by the end of this month. Both companies are targeting pan-India 5G rollouts by December.
Experts say Jio and Airtel’s countrywide 5G push is aimed at cornering a higher chunk of customer market and wallet share even as India’s broadband speeds and home broadband penetration continue to improve. Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea (Vi) has not yet announced its 5G rollout timelines.
Earlier in March, Airtel had matched Jio by launching an unlimited 5G data offer to all its postpaid customers as well as prepaid ones on data plans of Rs 239 and above.
Analysts at Crisil, though, recently estimated only a third of India’s data users would go 5G by March 2025 while the rest would continue using 4G for another two years, given the high cost of 5G devices and low near-term value proposition.
Sector experts also believe rising competitive intensity around 5G services could cut pricing power as India’s top-two telcos may not immediately be able to monetise the next-gen broadband service by charging a premium.
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