Nokia Siemens Networks' MBit Index study has revealed a 92% increase in mobile data traffic generated by both 2G and 3G services in India between December 2011 and December 2012. The study further revealed the information that mobile data traffic generated by 3G services has increased by 196%, while mobile data traffic generated by 2G services has increased by 66% during the period.
According to the study, each 3G user currently consumes close-to 300% more data on an average than a 2G user. And currently, a 3G user consumes 434MB per month on an average, while a 2G user consumes 115MB per month.
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"The fact that data consumption by 3G users has tripled in one year clearly shows the rapid and steady increase in mobile data consumption in India. This translates into the need for high-quality mobile broadband services with improved speed and service quality to satisfy mobile broadband users," said Sandeep Girotra, head of India region, Nokia Siemens Networks.
The study further revealed that in the first half of the research period, December 2011 – June 2012, data traffic generated by 3G services increased by 78%, while that of 2G services increased by 47%. In the second half, July 2012 – December 2012, data traffic generated by 3G services increased by 54%, while that of 2G services increased by 18% on a larger base.
Hence, the growth rate of 3G data in the second half of 2012 was almost triple that of the growth rate of 2G. In the second half, 2G data growth stabilized due to high-end 2G users migrating to 3G services.
The study further reveals that the data currently accessed by smartphones using 3G services in category B and C circles is much lower than the national average, with category B circles recording 75% of the mobile data consumption using 2G services only.
The trend in mobile data growth in India is in line with other high-growth mobile data markets around the world as well as with Nokia Siemens Networks’ vision that operators worldwide will need to be prepared to provide 1GB of personalized data per user by 2020.
