The Indian Gen Z spends on an average eight hours per day online and, 90 per cent of them prefer to consume content in their local language, a report said on Tuesday.

According to the latest Nokia annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report 2022, the key 5G use cases in India will be in the domains of innovation, digitisation and innovation and India’s forecasted mobile broadband penetration is around 80 per cent with average usage of 40GB.

The report also revealed that with the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53 per cent over the last five years, India has one of the highest data usage globally.

4G networks

It said the data traffic increased by 31 per cent in 2021, with average mobile data consumption touching 17GB per user per month. India’s growing 4G networks carried almost all mobile broadband traffic in 2021.

The report further revealed that more than 40 million subscribers were added or upgraded to 4G services in 2021, and this number will further grow as adaptation to digitisation continues to grow. Metros have shown a significant increase in traffic as compared to the previous years.

Shortform videos

Other key findings of the Nokia MBiT 2022 report is that of the shortform video segment accounting for 20 per cent of India’s digital ad market, which is estimated to reach $25-35 billion by the 2030 end.

“The 4G has played a crucial role in developing India’s mobile broadband ecosystem. Now, the upcoming 5G spectrum auction and the commercial launch of services later this year will help India bridge the digital divide and enable service providers to provide new and exciting use cases like Industry 4.0 and smart cities to fuel the digital economy,” Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice-President and Head of India Market at Nokia, said.

Smartphone user base

The growing ecosystem of 4G-capable devices is driving the growth in 4G subscribers and data consumption. India recorded the highest-ever shipment of over 160 million smartphones, including 30 million 5G devices in 2021, with active 4G capable devices crossing 80 per cent and the number of active 5G capable devices, crossing 10 million, he said.

The Nokia report forecasted that user adoption will increase to 60-75 per cent of the smartphone user base by 2025. The massive uptake of mobile broadband and video content is projected in the rural segment on the back of growing smartphone adoption.

It also projects that 5G services revenue is likely to grow at a CAGR of 164 per cent in five years. This is in line with the global momentum gained by 5G. The technology is expected to contribute up to one per cent of global GDP or $1.3 trillion in revenue by 2030, driven by innovative use cases in several sectors, including healthcare, utilities, next-generation media applications, manufacturing and smart cities.

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