NEW DELHI: It has been one year since the roll-out of 5G in India, and the effect of it has started showing. Internet speed has significantly improved after the launch of 5G services in the country. India has improved its ranking in internet speed significantly after the launch of 5G services in the country. In terms of internet speed ranking, India is much ahead of countries like the UK, Japan, Brazil or South Africa. According to the latest report by Ookla, India jumped 72 places on the Speedtest Global Index over the past year, with India’s 5G launch largely responsible for boosting the country’s ranking.
“After the introduction of 5G in the country, the speed performance has seen a 3.59 times increase, with median download speeds improving from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022 to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023. This improvement has led to India’s rise in the Speedtest Global Index, moving up 72 places, from 119th place to the 47th position,” reads a study by Ookla.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched the 5G network in the country on 1 October 2022 at the India Mobile Congress event. According to Department of Telecommunication (DoT) data, as on 28 August 2023, the Indian telecom operators deployed over 3,38,572 5G BTS (Base transceiver station), covering almost the entire country. Three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar – account for 25% of all wireless subscribers in the country and also hold a 25% share of 5G BTS.
Initially, telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel concentrated in major cities, but their coverage has expanded significantly, resulting in improved 5G performance across all telecom circles. India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio announced it had over 50 million 5G customers till June 2023. Bharti Airtel recently announced it has over 50 million unique 5G customers on its network as on 30 September 2023. Jio targets to deploy nearly 1 million base stations by December 2023.
Before the launch of 5G in the country (October 2022), the median download speeds ranged from 512.57 Mbps in Gujarat to 19.23 Mbps in Uttar Pradesh West as the networks were under development. However, by August 2023, median 5G download speeds exceeded 240 Mbps across all telecom areas, with Kolkata leading the pack with a median download speed of 385.50 Mbps.
The report also noted that mobile users in India are among the most data-intensive consumers in the world, but 4G networks have been unable to keep up with consumer expectations. The reason being, network congestion caused by population density, lack of cellular infrastructure, backhaul, as well as spectrum constraints.
“Following the 5G spectrum auction, operators have been able to address some of those issues and help offload 4G traffic onto 5G networks, thus reducing 4G network congestion. The strategy has proven successful already, as 25-35% of traffic is already getting offloaded on 5G from 4G,” reads the report.
