5G will account for 18% mobile subscriptions in India by 2025, 4G to dominate: Report

5G services will comprise 18 percent of mobile phone subscriptions in India by 2025, according to telecom player Ericsson.

"LTE (4G) will continue to be dominant, representing 64 percent of mobile subscriptions in 2025," according to the Ericsson Mobility Report.

4G subscriptions in India are pegged to increase from 550 million in 2019 to 820 million in 2025, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7 percent, the report said.

Globally, Ericsson forecast 2.8 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2025, representing 30 percent of all mobile subscriptions.

41 percent of respondents from India and China said they would upgrade to 5G once the COVID-19 crisis subsides.

The company collected data from an Ericsson Consumer & IndustryLab survey among smartphone users aged 15–69 years across 11 countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.

The total number of mobile broadband subscriptions India is estimated to cross the 1 billion mark by 2025.

"Mobile broadband technologies accounted for 58 percent of mobile subscriptions in 2019, and this figure is predicted to reach 82 percent by 2025," the report added.

The report also mentioned the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent lockdowns on fixed and mobile networks.

Across the 11 countries surveyed, network traffic loads moved from city centres, office locations to suburban residential areas., the report added.

"Mobile data traffic growth was typically moderate, or even negative, ranging from -10 to 20 percent in different networks," the report said.