Mobile Data

Rising prices of data and devices are a concern for the rapid proliferation of digitisation, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. The comments have come against the backdrop of a recent hike of about 57 per cent in the minimum monthly recharge plan by the country's second-largest telco Bharti Airtel. "Rise in cost of data or cost of devices are of concern because they are impediments in rapid digitisation," Chandrasekhar said. The minister said that he is not exactly aware of the hike in mobile services rates by Airtel and the ministry may approach telecom regulator Trai to examine if the hike is going to have a short-term or long-term impact. He said that there has been an impact on prices across the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the impact of data price need to be examined. Bharti Airtel has increased the price of its minimum recharge for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 per cent to Rs 155 in eight circles, ..

The total mobile data traffic in the India region is estimated to grow from 18 exabyte (EB) per month in 2022 to 53 EB per month in 2028

WhatsApp has in the past declared that iOS 12 or a newer software version will be required for iPhone users to continue using the platform on its Help Center website

Easy onboarding, according to experts, is the most significant factor responsible for the rise in mobile trading

Department of Telecom (DoT) has extended the duration of archiving call data and internet usage records of subscribers to two years from one year due to security reasons. The amendments in the licences were issued on December 21 and extended to other forms of telecom permits on December 22. "The licensee shall maintain all commercial records/call detail record/exchange detail record/IP detail record with record to the communications exchanged on the network. Such records shall be archived for at least two years for scrutiny by the licensor for security reasons...," the DoT circular said. Telecom companies may destroy the data stored thereafter if there is no direction from the DoT thereafter. The circular said that the amendment is necessary in "public interest or in the interest of the security of the state or for the proper conduct of the telegraphs". The amendment mandates telecom companies to maintain internet data records of subscribers including login and logout details of a

The research showed that 4G alone constituted nearly 99 per cent of the total data traffic consumed across the country in 2020.

Company also announces new data plans offering 1-2 GB data at lower prices than competition

Data networks are working at near peak capacity of 80-85% (compared to 65-75% pre-Covid) and they could get into a jam once again if economic activity suddenly picks

Internet services were suspended in J-K in August last year after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories

Earlier, only access to white-listed sites was allowed after the services were restored for a week on January 25 and subsequently extended from time to time.

Current mobile internet prices are in the range of Rs 4-5 per GB

Telcos should not give up freedom to set tariffs

The data usage in the country increased by 56 folds to 46,404 million GB in 2018 from 828 million GB in 2014

While India ($0.26) topped the scale of cheap mobile data, Kyrgyzstan ($0.27), Kazakstan ($0.49), Ukraine ($0.51) and Rwanda ($0.56) completed the top five countries offering the cheapest data packs

The study showed that the average data usage grew 69 per cent in 2018 to touch 10 GB per user per month in December 2018

81% smartphone users spend below 500 a month on mobile data consumption and 64% among these don't spend more than 300

The country also grew the most in terms of net additions in mobile subscriptions during the March quarter at over 21 million

A growing device ecosystem and increased adoption of multimedia services will boost traffic further as 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks are rolled out across India, reveals the MBiT Index study, Nokia's annual report on mobile broadband performance in the country. According to the study, overall mobile data traffic grew by 50 per cent in 2015, with 3G traffic outpacing 2G across all circles for the first time. This was the result of a mature network, device and content ecosystem. 3G device penetration more than doubled during the year while new network launches and expansions in existing circles boosted data adoption beyond larger towns and cities. Subscriber appetite is growing for multimedia services, with video and social networking now making up 60 per cent of data traffic. Average monthly data usage for 3G surpassed 750MB per subscriber and, with operators poised to launch 4G LTE networks, faster data speeds will fuel an even greater surge in traffic - echoing 4G LTE launches