India now accounts for 5 percent of the world's 1 billion 5G subscribers

- China is number one with 644 million 5G customers, which is about 38 percent of the total customers

Six months after the launch of 5G services in India, the number of 5G users crossed 50 million this month, an important milestone. The Department of Telecom has confirmed this figure based on data submitted by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

This means that as of December 31, 2022, the number of 5G subscribers has now increased to 4.37 percent of the country's total subscribers, based on TRAI data. It is estimated to be around 6.5 percent of the total 4G subscribers of 773 million. On a global scale, by the end of last year, India's share of the world's 1 billion 5G subscribers has now dropped to 5 percent.

India has already approached Western Europe in terms of number of 5G subscribers. According to a report by Ericsson Mobility, Western Europe said goodbye to 2022 with 63 million 5G customers (11.5 percent penetration). Despite two years of initial gains it looks like this.

Latin America has only 19 million subscribers. This figure is 31 million in South East Asia and Oceania, 9 million in West Asia and North Africa and 15 million in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. These figures are up to the end of 2022.

India needs to capture three major markets. The first market is China with 644 million 5G subscribers, about 38 percent of the total. Another market is North America where the number of 5G subscribers is expected to reach 141 million by the end of 2022, almost double the 2021 figure. Thus its penetration has reached 35 percent.

By the end of this year, the rollout of 5G services in India will be faster than in the US, and the pace of 5G roll-out in Europe is already accelerating. The third market is East Asia where countries like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are present. By the end of last year, the number of 5G subscribers in this market was 84 million.

Experts have given different estimates regarding the growth of 5G in India. According to Omdia's estimates, India will have more than 150 million 5G subscribers by the end of 2024. It will increase significantly from the second half of 2023. Ericsson believes that India will be the second largest market after China by 2028 in terms of number of 5G subscribers.

Certainly Indian companies are aggressively expanding their 5G networks. Their number of 5-G towers has crossed 1,16,000, which is 15 percent of the total towers.

According to telecom company sources, Reliance Jio has covered 50,000 towers. Also it has installed more than 3,00,000 radios including 3 radios for 3.5 GHz and 700 MHz. Bharti Airtel has installed more than 1,00,000 radios. It has not purchased spectrum in the 700MHz band as it already has enough spectrum available in other bands for coverage.

According to sources, the two companies have jointly covered more than 500 cities with at least 20 percent coverage. In some cities like New Delhi, the coverage has reached 70 percent.