India's 5G Traffic Nearly Doubles, Now Representing Over One-Third of Mobile Data Usage
India's 5G data consumption nearly doubled during fiscal 2025-26, increasing from 57,042 petabytes to 107,384 petabytes and accounting for 37.63% of total wireless data traffic. Total mobile data usage across India reached 285,376 petabytes, up 24.75% year-over-year, with 5G driving most incremental growth while 4G's contribution slowed to just 3.97% expansion. Since commercial 5G deployment began in 2022-23, the country's 5G traffic has increased more than fivefold, demonstrating rapid technology transition from 4G dominance.
India's wireless infrastructure is experiencing a dramatic generational shift. Since 5G commercial deployment commenced in late 2022, the technology has grown from zero traffic to become responsible for over one-third of all mobile data consumption within just three years. This acceleration occurred despite 4G remaining the predominant network technology by overall share, illustrating how quickly users and applications have migrated to newer infrastructure where available.
The composition of India's data growth reveals which technologies drive future investment priorities. During the past fiscal year, nearly nine of every ten new petabytes of data traffic flowed through 5G networks, while 4G's contribution to incremental growth has contracted substantially. Meanwhile, 3G and 2G networks have become negligible, collectively representing less than one-quarter of one percent of total consumption and likely serving primarily legacy IoT devices and older handsets.
This traffic migration could reshape investment decisions for India's major telecom operators and influence spectrum allocation strategies by regulators. Network operators may accelerate 5G infrastructure buildout in response to demonstrated demand, potentially improving service quality in competitive urban markets while creating pressure to extend 5G coverage to underserved regions. However, the continued reliance on 4G for over 60 percent of traffic suggests operators must maintain dual-network investments, affecting capital allocation and pricing models for consumers.