According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, India has added the maximum number of new mobile subscribers during the 3rd quarter of 2015 compared to other countries across the world. The study claims the country gained nearly 13 million consumers in the time period.
India was followed by China (7 million), the US (6 million), Myanmar (5 million), and Nigeria (4 million). Globally, there were 87 million new subscriptions and 7.3 billion total connections in Q3 of 2015. The Ericsson report estimates the worldwide growth rate of new additions is currently at 5% year-on-year.
Mobile broadband subscriptions are also increasing at a pace of 25% year-on-year. Approximately 160 million new data users emerged during the 3rd quarter of this year, with 4G networks accounting for 850 million subscriptions and the total international base standing at 3.4 billion. Ericsson predicts this figure will go up to 7.7 billion by 2021.
The firm calculates there will be 150 million 5G customers by 2021, claiming South Korea, the US, China and Japan will be among the fastest to adopt it. Mobile data currently accounts for the vast majority of connections rather than fixed broadband, a pattern which was reflected in a TRAI report for Indian consumers a few months ago.
Also See: Telephone connections surpass one billion in India: TRAI
The Ericsson study thinks 70% of mobile data traffic by 2021 will be directed towards watching videos. It currently accounts for 50% of internet usage on phones. Interestingly, the firm says that social networks now contribute to 15% of traffic but will decline to 10% by 2021 because of stronger growth in the video segment.
Ericsson expects the Asia Pacific region will have the dominant 40% share in total device traffic by 2021. This number will be fueled by the greater affordability of smartphones in developing markets like India, and are poised to outnumber basic feature phones by 2016.