5G readiness among consumers is high in India: Study

The fifth-generation (5G) technology is no longer a stranger to Indians, at least to a chunk of the population, despite being in its early days. A recent survey found that 52% Indians are aware of the 5G technology and that it has been rolled out in the country, with 24% of them intending to switch to 5G phones soon and 7% of them have already purchased it, intending that India 5G readiness among consumers is 'high' in India.  

The consumer sentiment index (CSI) report by Axis My India, a consumer data intelligence consultancy, for the month of November further highlights that 61% engages with internet daily and 23% uses it for ‘chatting’ through WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram etc. The research also shows that 21% of households have increased their media consumption (TV, Internet, radio, etc.), a rise of 2% from the previous month. Moreover, 55% intend to watch the T20 World Cup, 69% of them will prefer to watch T20 World cup on television, 28% will watch it on their phone - with many already upbeat that 5G usage will further enhance these experiences.

On the mobile phone preferences, the survey carried out via Computer-Aided Telephonic Interviews with a sample size of 10207 people across 32 states and UTs, found out that 15% considers RAM as the most prominent feature while buying it while 14% each consider the brand and the price of the device as important parameters. Camera quality reported to be an important concern for 11%, it said. 

“The growing dependency on internet has impacted all spheres of the consumer’s life. From chatting to networking, expressing and now watching, internet has evolved to fulfill all consumer needs and will continue to do so in the future with the advent of 5G,” Pradeep Gupta, Chairman and managing director, Axis My India, said in a statement.  

“From adapting newer modes of media consumption like watching World-cup on phone to having varied other forms of empowered user experience on the internet, 5G will only continue to shape consumer consumption behaviour,” he added. 

Not only the new research, a September 2022 study carried out by Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson, in the second quarter of 2022 stated that consumer's intention to upgrade to 5G in urban India is two times higher than their counterparts in markets such as the UK and US where 5G has already been launched.  

Over the past two years, India has witnessed three times increase in smartphone users who own a 5G handset. The study reveals that over 100 million users with 5G- ready smartphones wish to upgrade to a 5G subscription in 2023 while more than half of them are open to upgrading to a higher data tier plan in the next 12 months. 

5G network superiority could emerge as a driver for consumer loyalty with 59% of smartphone users intending to upgrade to 5G in the first 12 months. According to Ericsson, 5G will improve network satisfaction in India, especially for gaming experience. Seven in 10 of current smartphone users are looking forward to enhanced video streaming quality once they switch to 5G. 

Also, both the studies agreed that 5G-ready users are already engaging in using more digital services compared to 4G users and G will trigger an increase in consumption of new format high-resolution video streaming and cloud gaming, they said. 

“The transition to 5G provides an opportunity for service providers in India to strengthen their position in the consumer market, with focus on 5G quality and availability,” noted Jasmeet Sethi, Head of Ericsson ConsumerLab. “More innovative experiences need to be bundled to meet the expectations of early adopters to successfully monetise 5G,” Sethi said.