India 5G adoption: on track for 1B subscribers by 2031

India’s 5G market has entered a scale phase, with momentum pointing to more than a billion subscribers and deeper network modernization over the next six years.

Adoption inflection: subscriptions and data usage

Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report projects over 1 billion 5G subscriptions in India by end-2031, representing about 79% of the country’s mobile base. By the close of 2025, India is expected to reach roughly 394 million 5G subscriptions, or around one-third of total mobile connections, marking one of the fastest adoption curves globally since services launched in late 2022.

Data consumption is reinforcing this trajectory. Average mobile data usage per active smartphone in India stands near 36 GB per month—among the highest in the world—and is forecast to approach 65 GB per month by 2031. That growth is reshaping traffic engineering and content delivery priorities for operators and cloud partners.

India 5G Growth drivers: affordable devices and FWA

Two demand-side levers stand out: affordable 5G devices and expanding Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Lower-cost 5G handsets from ecosystem players like Qualcomm and MediaTek, combined with rapid coverage builds by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, are accelerating mainstream adoption. On the home broadband side, affordable 5G FWA customer premises equipment (CPE) and high per-user data consumption are lifting total network load and opening a credible substitute to wired broadband in underserved areas.

Global 5G outlook: coverage growth, traffic share and 2031 milestones

Worldwide indicators reinforce that 5G is shifting from rollout to revenue and efficiency at scale.

India 5G subscriptions and coverage milestones

Globally, 5G subscriptions are expected to reach about 2.9 billion by end-2025—roughly a third of all mobile lines—and grow to around 6.4 billion by 2031, or about two-thirds of the total. Coverage expanded materially in 2025, with roughly half the global population outside mainland China within reach of 5G networks by year-end.

5G Standalone (SA) is becoming the new baseline for differentiation. Ericsson notes more than 90 service providers have launched or soft-launched 5G SA, up by about 30 over the past year, enabling advanced features such as network slicing, deterministic latency, and improved uplink performance critical for industrial and enterprise use cases.

Mobile data traffic share and 5G economics

Mobile data traffic rose about 20% year-on-year between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, led by China and India, and is projected to grow at around 16% annually through 2031. 5G networks are expected to carry about 43% of all mobile data by end-2025, rising to roughly 83% by 2031—evidence that 5G capacity is quickly becoming the workhorse layer for video, gaming, and enterprise workloads.

FWA remains a key contributor. Around 1.4 billion people are projected to use FWA broadband by 2031, with about 90% served over 5G. Ericsson identifies 159 providers offering 5G FWA—approximately 65% of all FWA providers—with a shift toward speed-based pricing (about 54% now), signaling a gradual move from volume to experience-led tariffs.

5G Standalone, network slicing and enterprise monetization

With coverage maturing, the next wave of value comes from SA cores, quality tiers, and vertical solutions.

From coverage to capability: slicing in production

As operators migrate to 5G SA, network slicing is moving from proofs to production. The report tracks 118 slicing initiatives across 56 providers, with 65 commercialized for consumer and enterprise segments—21 of them launched in 2025 alone. Early traction spans enhanced mobile broadband tiers, premium video, live events, FWA with service-level commitments, and enterprise connectivity for manufacturing, logistics, and smart cities.

Technically, SA unlocks features defined in 3GPP Releases 16 and 17, including slice isolation, policy-based QoS, and better support for time-sensitive networking—capabilities that underpin deterministic services and future 5G-Advanced use cases.

Tariff innovation: speed- and SLA-based experience tiers

Speed-based and SLA-based pricing is gaining ground as operators leverage SA cores and policy control. Combining speed tiers with latency, jitter, and availability guarantees creates room for upsell in gaming, UHD streaming, and enterprise-grade FWA. Expect more hybrid models—speed plus application-specific QoS—bundled with content, cloud storage, or edge compute credits.

Operator and enterprise priorities in India for 5G growth

The near-term imperative is to translate scale into sustainable unit economics and new revenue lines.

Operator priorities for SA, FWA and backhaul

Accelerate 5G SA core deployments to enable slicing, uplink-sensitive services, and advanced voice over NR. Expand FWA with a rigorous view of unit economics: target fiber-poor clusters, deploy CPE subsidy models carefully, and use mmWave or high-capacity mid-band for dense locales. Upgrade backhaul with fiber and high-capacity microwave to handle peak loads driven by FWA and video. Introduce speed- and QoS-based plans, including enterprise FWA SLAs, while maintaining clear fairness policies.

Invest in energy-efficient RAN features and AI-driven RAN optimization to offset traffic-driven OPEX. Prepare for RedCap (reduced capability NR) devices to broaden IoT monetization in cameras, wearables, and industrial sensors. Expand private 5G offers with managed services and ecosystem partners, leveraging Open RAN selectively where total cost of ownership and integration maturity align.

Enterprise playbook for private 5G and edge

Map operational KPIs to connectivity requirements and trial private 5G or slices for use cases such as computer vision, AGVs, and high-density Wi-Fi offload. Align OT/IT teams on security, spectrum, and integration. Plan device certification and lifecycle management early, including RedCap endpoints. Where low-latency compute is critical, pilot multi-access edge computing with cloud partners colocated at operator edge sites.

6G timeline and how to prepare while scaling 5G

Early 6G signals are visible, but value in this decade remains anchored in 5G-Advanced and SA-enabled services.

Who moves first in 6G and why it matters

Initial 6G launches are expected around the turn of the decade in the US, Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Gulf markets, with Europe likely following about a year later due to slower SA readiness. Subscriptions could reach around 180 million by 2031, a modest base relative to 5G but important for early ecosystem learning.

Pragmatic 5G-Advanced steps for 2025–2027

Focus on 5G-Advanced pilots grounded in 3GPP Release 18 capabilities, including improved uplink, positioning, and AI-native optimization. Participate in standards bodies and open ecosystems such as 3GPP and the O-RAN Alliance to shape features and interoperability. Explore non-terrestrial network integrations for IoT backhaul or resilience, while ensuring today’s SA, slicing, and FWA strategies deliver measurable ROI.