India's 5G user base to cross 110 crore by 2031 as country leads in consuming mobile data: Ericsson

India's 5G subscriber base is expected to surpass 110 crore  by 2031, representing 81% of all mobile subscriptions in the country, as affordable smartphones, wider network coverage and growing fixed wireless access (FWA) services accelerate adoption, according to Ericsson's latest Mobility Report.

The June 2026 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report released on Tuesday said India had 43 crore 5G subscriptions at the end of 2025, accounting for 35% of total mobile subscriptions. While 4G remains the dominant technology with a 46% share, the report forecasts its subscriber base to decline sharply from around 57 crore in 2025 to nearly 16 crore by 2031 as users migrate to 5G networks.

India continues to lead the world in mobile data consumption per smartphone. Average monthly data usage currently stands at 37 GB per smartphone and is expected to almost double to 70 GB by 2031, driven by increasing video consumption, cloud services and emerging digital applications.

"India's rapidly growing 5G adoption based on enhanced mobile broadband and 5G FWA is transforming consumer experiences," said Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India.

"The robust and secure 5G infrastructure in the country is driving inclusion, governance and innovation at scale and is serving as a powerful foundation for Digital India," he added.

The report highlighted a significant development in the Indian telecom market, with a service provider recently launching differentiated connectivity services for postpaid customers using 5G standalone (SA) network slicing technology. The move signals the emergence of advanced 5G use cases beyond traditional mobile broadband services.

Global 5G subscriptions cross 300 crore

Globally, 5G mobile subscriptions crossed the 300 crore mark during the first quarter of 2026 after the addition of 16.2 crore new users, taking the total to 310 crore Ericsson expects the figure to more than double to 640 crore by the end of 2031.

The report noted that around 390 telecom operators worldwide have launched commercial 5G services, while more than 90 operators have deployed 5G standalone networks.

By the end of 2025, 5G networks carried 48% of global mobile data traffic, a share expected to rise to 85% by 2031. Regions including North America, Western Europe, North East Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are projected to achieve 5G adoption rates of around 90% or higher by 2031.

Commercial offerings based on 5G standalone network slicing are also gaining traction. The number of such services globally has increased from 65 in November 2025 to 84 in June 2026, indicating growing demand for guaranteed-quality connectivity services across industries.

Uplink traffic growing faster than downloads

Ericsson said changing consumer behaviour is reshaping network traffic patterns, with uplink traffic growing faster than downlink traffic for most telecom operators.

The company found that 43 out of 55 operators studied recorded faster uplink growth, while 17 operators experienced uplink traffic growth at least 1.5 times higher than downlink growth. Increased use of video sharing, social media content creation, collaboration applications and cloud storage services is driving the trend.

Network traffic across mobile and FWA networks rose 22% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding expectations and supported largely by strong demand in India and North America.