Resilient networks – A cornerstone of connectivity during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize even more that connectivity is a basic human need and resilient networks have emerged as the pillar that are keeping India connected during this time. The Ericsson Consumer Study revealed that the average time spent on mobile broadband increased by one hour globally on an average but in India, it went up by 2.2 hours per day thus, highlighting the importance of mobile broadband for Indian users.

From ensuring continuity of all economic activities to helping people remain socially connected with their friends and family, the networks have stood up to the test – 83 percent respondents in a recent consumer survey by Ericsson claimed that ICT helped them cope with the lockdown. The massive surge in data and voice traffic has emerged as a significant trend as people all over the world including India, spend more time at home due to lockdowns and movement restrictions. The dramatic changes in human behavior patterns have caused measurable changes in the usage of both fixed and mobile networks worldwide. As more people increasingly study and work from home, online education, virtual training as well as virtual meetings and conferences have become the new reality.

Together with the network operators, Ericsson has played a major role in enhancing the quality of experience for users in India and across the world. Network re-planning and end-to-end re-dimensioning activities focusing on network design, capacity, performance and traffic handling have been carried out by Ericsson engineers to ensure that the customer experience from the network is not compromised. Proactive measures via Machine Learning-enabled capacity planning enables the service provider to identify as well as act on network bottleneck issues in advance with application-based (e.g., web, chat, video) traffic handling being managed through service-aware configuration.

Potential of the India market
With the strong data growth that the market is witnessing and the government’s focus on digitalization, India remains a priority market for Ericsson. As per the recent Ericsson Mobility Report, traffic growth in the country continues to show an upward trajectory and India remains the region with the highest monthly usage per smartphone (increased from 13.5GB per month in 2019 to 15.7GB per month in 2020) boosted by the rapid adoption of 4G and people working from home during COVID-19. The average traffic per smartphone is expected to further increase to around 37GB per month in 2026. Today, with India standing at the cusp of 5G, Ericsson is ready to help the nation unlock the vast possibilities this next generation technology has to offer. The report predicts that 5G will represent around 27 percent of mobile subscriptions in the country at the end of 2026, estimated at about 350 million subscriptions while LTE will continue to be the dominant technology accounting for 63 percent of mobile subscriptions. Additionally, by the end of 2020, globally more than 1 billion people – 15 percent of the world’s population will live in an area that has 5G coverage rolled out and by 2026, 60 percent of the world’s population will have access to 5G coverage, with its subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5 billion.

These figures once again iterate the huge potential of the India market and it’s no surprise that Ericsson has always bet big on it – not just today but ever since starting it’s operations here. Having established its presence in India in 1903, Ericsson has been manufacturing in the country since 1994, for India and the world. We have been a partner in the evolution of telecommunications services in the country whether it is 2G, 3G, 4G and we are getting India ready for 5G. Ericsson has its largest workforce based out of India compared to anywhere else in the world. More than 90 percent of radios that Ericsson supplies to Indian service providers are Made in India, while exporting 5G radios to other markets as well.

Further, to harness opportunities from the latest technologies such as AI/ML, Ericsson has established an innovation hub focusing on research and development in AI and Automation. This Global AI Accelerator leverages cutting edge AI and Automation technologies to create data driven, intelligent, and robust systems for automation, evolution, and growth in the 5G era.

To conclude, with India taking requisite steps to speed ahead on the road to economic recovery, our resilient and reliable networks will play a crucial role. And as always, Ericsson stays committed to partner the government and policy makers to deliver transformative impact on business and consumers through the value of connectivity.