Mobile data traffic in India up by 54 percent in first half of 2012
A study conducted by Nokia Siemens Networks reveals that data usage through mobile data traffic in India between December 2011 and June 2012 increased by 54 percent. The report attributes the recent reduction in 3G tariff prices by the telecom operators for the surge in mobile data consumption.
The telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular recently slashed brought down their 3G tariff rates to Rs. 200 (for 1GB) from previous Rs. 350 per month. Rates of the higher packs have also gone down. The Nokia Siemens report shows data usage shoot up immediately after the tariffs were slashed.
“The recent tariff reductions in 3G services have resulted in doubling 3G data traffic month on month .. affordable, high-speed broadband availability encourages heavy data consumption,” it said in a report on India mobile data usage.
The report, however, reveals that 2G network, inclusive of GPRS and Edge, contributed more than 75 percent of the total traffic from mobile networks in the first six months of 2012. The game changed when 3G tariff price were slashed across the network.
According to Nokia Siemens, a first time 3G user consumes around 400MB of data per month, as compared to 100MB consumption on 2G. Traffic from 3G services shot up by 78 percent in the first half of this year as compared to the second half of 2011, while 2G services rose by 47 percent. Nokia Siemens Networks’ MBit Index shows 3G data usage is increasing in the metro cities.
However, the fastest growth of 3G registered in category B circles, which are mainly semi-urban states such as Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. More than a 87 percent data usage grew between December 2011 and June 2012 in these circles.
The report also scrutinises the mobile data usage on 2G. Web browsing has 81 percent share of 2G data traffic, while downloading videos is around 17 percent. Consumption of multimedia content surged by 4 percent between December 2011 – June 2012.
“Nokia Siemens Networks’ MBit Index indicates that despite low 3G device penetration, by the end of June 2012 3G has outpaced 2G in terms of data traffic growth .. with 3G data now generating 25% of the country’s total mobile data traffic, 3G is likely to be the driver for continued high data growth in the country,” the report points out. Check out the full report here.
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