Indians Consume an Average of 27.5 GB Internet Data Every Month, Wireless Broadband Users Consume 12x More Than Mobile Users
PuneNow Tech Desk
May 04, 2025 | 3 min read
India’s average monthly data consumption per user reached 27.5 GB in 2024, with wireless broadband users consuming over 12 times more data than typical mobile users, according to Nokia’s latest Mobile Broadband Index (MbiT) 2024 report. This figure, which includes both 4G and 5G data, reflects a robust 19.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years and is projected to climb to 50 GB by 2030.
The report, which studied usage trends between January and December 2024, highlights the explosive growth of India’s digital landscape. India now has over 1 billion mobile subscribers, of which around 900 million are data users. This includes 613 million 4G users and 219 million 5G users.
With 5G adoption accelerating, India is on track to reach 770 million 5G data users by 2028, adding an average of 120 million new users every year. Currently, 5G users are already consuming around 40 GB of data monthly, with 25% of that attributed to wireless broadband usage. This trend signals a shifting preference toward high-bandwidth services and devices.
In terms of traffic, Pan-India 5G data consumption averaged 21.5 exabytes per month in 2024. Active 5G devices in the country more than doubled year-on-year to 271 million, and 90% of smartphones replaced in 2025 are expected to be 5G-capable.
The report emphasizes that Category B and C telecom circles are driving this growth, with 5G data traffic increasing by 3.4x and 3.2x, respectively. Metro areas have also seen rapid adoption, with 5G accounting for 43% of mobile broadband data, up from 20% in 2023.
The rise of 5G wireless broadband has emerged as a key contributor to this surge, with wireless broadband users generating significantly higher data volumes than traditional mobile users.
Nokia forecasts that 5G data traffic will overtake 4G by Q1 of 2026, driven by network expansion and user demand. The transition toward 5G Advanced is expected to unlock new business models, streamline operations through intelligent automation, and serve as a launchpad for 6G innovations such as AI-enhanced services and spatial-temporal sensing.
As India moves rapidly toward a hyper-connected future, these trends signal a dramatic reshaping of digital consumption patterns across urban and rural regions alike.
