Over the past year, 5G has moved from being an incremental layer to becoming a central driver of mobile data traffic. With faster speeds and improved network capabilities, 5G is steadily becoming central to how data is consumed across user segments.
Nokia’s “India Mobile Broadband Traffic Index 2026” (MBiT) report assesses trends in 4G and 5G data traffic across the country. It examines growth in overall data consumption, changes in per-user usage patterns, and the evolution of the device ecosystem. The report also highlights emerging trends shaping network demand, including the growing role of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) and the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on traffic patterns.
A look at the key trends from the report…
Growth in mobile data traffic and usage trends
The increase in mobile data traffic is being driven by deeper 5G adoption and rising per-user consumption. Total monthly data traffic reached 27.6 exabytes (EB) in 2025, registering a 28 per cent year-on-year increase. There has been a steady upward trend over the past five years, with traffic more than doubling from 12.6 EB in 2021 and growing at over 21 per cent annually. Over the same period, the wireless broadband subscriber base increased from 904 million to 962 million, indicating that growth is being supported by both a larger user base and higher consumption.
A growing share of this traffic is now being carried on 5G networks. Monthly 5G traffic reached 12.9 EB in 2025, reflecting a 70 per cent year-on-year increase. This is also evident in overall traffic distribution, where 5G’s share rose from 35.5 per cent in 2024 to 46.8 per cent in 2025, bringing it close to half of total mobile data traffic.
The shift is most visible in metro circles, where 5G already accounts for 58 per cent of total data traffic, up from 43 per cent a year earlier. However, this trend is not limited to metros. 5G adoption across circles is now nearing the halfway mark, indicating that the transition is taking place across regions.
Alongside this, per-user data consumption continues to rise. Average monthly data usage reached 31.1 GB in 2025, up from 17 GB in 2021, representing a CAGR of over 18 per cent over five years. This translates to over 1 GB of data consumption per user per day. India also ranks among the leading global markets, with the second largest 5G data consumption and subscriber base.
As 5G takes on a larger share of traffic, 4G usage is beginning to stabilise. While it continues to carry a significant portion of data, most of the incremental growth is now shifting to 5G, indicating a gradual transition towards next-generation networks.
Device ecosystem driving 5G adoption
The pace at which 5G has scaled in India is closely linked to the evolution of the device ecosystem. While network roll-out has expanded rapidly, adoption has depended on the availability and compatibility of devices, and this gap has narrowed significantly in recent years.
As of 2025, India had around 892 million active 4G devices, of which 383 million are already 5G-capable, indicating that 43 per cent of users have 5G-capable devices. This transition has been supported by a sharp increase in 5G smartphone shipments. In 2025, over 90 per cent of smartphones shipped were 5G-enabled, up from 79 per cent in 2024. The availability of affordable devices has further supported this trend, with shipments of budget 5G smartphones, priced below $100, increasing more than tenfold during the year.
Device capabilities have also improved. Most 5G smartphones now support key coverage bands, with over 90 per cent also supporting capacity bands, enabling compatibility across networks.
5G FWA as a traffic accelerator
While mobile usage continues to account for a large share of data consumption, FWA is emerging as a significant contributor to overall traffic growth in the 5G era. In 2025, 5G FWA accounted for over 25 per cent of total 5G data traffic.
This becomes clearer when looking at per-user consumption. On average, FWA users consume nearly 10 times more data than mobile users. At the same time, the segment is expanding rapidly, with 5G FWA subscribers more than doubling on a year-on-year basis.
GenAI and changing network requirements
The next phase of mobile network evolution is being shaped by GenAI, along with the expansion of the device ecosystem and the emergence of new use cases. The device ecosystem is no longer limited to smartphones. It now includes a wider range of connected devices such as wearables, internet of thing (IoT) modules, enterprise devices, robots and vehicles, increasing the volume and spread of data generated across networks.
Further, new use cases are emerging, including latency-critical computing, immersive applications, critical communication, 5G IoT, network sensing and space communication. These are introducing new performance requirements for mobile networks. This is reflected in how network behaviour is evolving. The report highlighted three key shifts: changes in uplink-downlink traffic patterns, rising data volumes and increasing sensitivity to latency.
Mobile networks have traditionally been designed for higher downlink demand. However, with the growing role of AI-led applications, uplink traffic is expected to increase. At the same time, traffic patterns are becoming less predictable, with variations in data usage across applications. Another change is in how workloads are distributed. While some processing is taking place on devices, cloud-based synchronisation continues to contribute to overall traffic.
Future outlook
India’s 5G subscriber base is projected to reach around 1 billion by 2031, indicating continued growth in data traffic and adoption. One of the key developments will be the gradual densification of networks, as 5G capacity scales through continuous layer addition within the existing network footprint. Furthermore, traffic patterns are expected to evolve, with a gradual shift in the balance between downlink and uplink driven by the growing use of AI applications.
Devices will continue to play an important role in this transition. The increasing availability of affordable 5G smartphones is expected to support further adoption, alongside rising data usage.
Moreover, network requirements are becoming more complex. As new applications emerge, networks will need to support higher data volumes along with increased intelligence. In this context, AI-native networks are expected to gain importance, with AI becoming more integrated across devices, networks and applications.
Harshita Kalra
