Hardik Khatri, Robert Wyrzykowski
India and Brazil, two of the world’s largest emerging economies, embarked on their 5G journeys in Q2 2022, each crafting a distinct strategy for spectrum assignments and network deployment. In this analysis, published in partnership with the GSMA Spectrum Programme, Opensignal compares their approaches, highlighting the trade-offs between 5G Availability, speed, and spectrum management that have shaped the 5G mobile network experience in both countries.
Key Takeaways:
India's 5G Availability is one of the highest in the region: As of Q2 2024, India's 5G Availability has surged, with 5G users spending 52% of their time on 5G networks. However, average 5G download speeds have declined, dropping from about 300Mbps in Q1 2023 to 243Mbps in Q2 2024, primarily due to network congestion, resulting from faster 5G adoption and increased data consumption per 5G subscriber.
Brazil's 5G download speeds reached 350Mbps: This is due to the use of 3.5GHz mid-band spectrum. However, 5G Availability is still growing, with around 11% of 5G users’ time spent on 5G networks.
Spectrum management differences: In India,16% of 5G readings use low-band (700MHz) spectrum, offering extensive coverage but limiting speed. In contrast, 99% of Brazil's 5G readings come from the C-band (3.5GHz) band.
Efficiency in spectrum bandwidth: Brazil uses high bandwidths (over 100MHz) for 40% of its 5G connections, resulting in faster speeds. In contrast, only 18% of India's 5G connections use bandwidths above 100MHz, contributing to slower speeds.
Shifting network usage trends: In Brazil, time on 5G remains stable, with users still relying heavily on 4G, replacing time previously spent on 2G and 3G networks. However, in India, users are increasingly spending less time on 4G, while time on 2G and 3G hasn’t changed significantly, suggesting time on 4G is gradually getting replaced by 5G.
Spectrum assignments and network build-out strategy
In Q2 2024, two years after the launch, India's 5G Availability is among the highest regionally, with 5G users being able to spend over half of their time on 5G. However, India's average 5G download speeds have gradually declined, falling to 243.3Mbps by Q2 2024, compared to 304Mbps in Q1 2023. 
In contrast, Brazil's average 5G download speeds are approaching 350Mbps, which has slightly increased since the launch of 5G in the country. However, 5G Availability remains stable but lower compared to India, with 5G users being able to spend only 10.8% of the time with an active 5G signal.
India's 5G rollout has been spearheaded by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with Vodafone India (Vi) yet to launch 5G. Jio rolled out a large-scale 5G standalone access (SA) network using 700MHz for rural areas and 3.5GHz for urban centers, with mmWave (26GHz) reserved only for high-capacity applications. The 700MHz band ensures extensive coverage, but this spectrum's limited bandwidth means relatively low speeds, particularly in densely populated areas. Airtel, on the other hand, opted for a non-standalone access (NSA) approach, deploying 5G on top of its existing 4G infrastructure for faster urban rollouts.
Spectrum management - a balancing act
India and Brazil’s spectrum management choices highlight the delicate balance between coverage and speed. In India, a significant proportion of the 5G readings are associated with the low-band. Currently,16% of India’s 5G connections use the 700MHz band, but the limited bandwidth reduces download speeds. The rest use the upper mid-band 3.5GHz spectrum, but share resources between 4G and 5G users, especially on Airtel's NSA networks, which can slow speeds. Reliance Jio is the only operator that holds spectrum in the 700MHz band and uses it for 5G in India. While this band provides extensive coverage, particularly in dense areas, it has limited bandwidth capacity, leading to lower speeds as demand increases. This is a significant factor contributing to the speed decline observed over the past year.
In contrast, Brazilian operators are focusing primarily on the upper mid-band spectrum, with only 1% of 5G readings coming from the lower mid-band (1.5GHz and 2.6GHz) and none from low band. The 3.5MHz band provides higher capacity and speed but has more limited propagation characteristics compared to 700MHz.
The difference in spectrum bandwidth usage is also crucial. Opensignal's previous analysis shows that greater spectrum bandwidth correlates with faster speeds and better performance. Our data shows that in Brazil, almost 40% of the 5G readings use bandwidth of over 100MHz, enabling 5G networks to deliver faster speeds and support increased demand for data. In contrast, in India, this figure stands at 18%.
User experience: time on different network technologies
A critical element of the user experience is the amount of time spent on different generations of mobile networks. In Brazil, Time on 4G remains dominant, with users reporting increased Time on 4G networks as users shift away from legacy 2G and 3G networks. In India, the story is different — 2G and 3G usage has remained stable, but Time on 4G is declining, suggesting that users are able to spend more time with an active 5G connection. However, the surge in 5G traffic has introduced additional pressure on 5G infrastructure, particularly in cities with high population density, where infrastructure struggles to keep up with demand during the busiest periods of the day.
In Opensignal’s previous analyses, we found that greater quantities of spectrum capacity tend to improve the 4G and 5G experience. We observed this both in the Asia Pacific region but also in Latin America. Generally, markets where our users see a larger amount of average 5G spectrum used for their 5G connections also see faster 5G download speeds. 
Our users in Brazil connect to 5G services with average spectrum bandwidths around 70MHz, resulting in 5G download speeds approaching 350Mbps. India is slightly behind Brazil in terms of the spectrum bandwidth used and its 5G download speeds are slower.
While spectrum is a crucial factor influencing users’ 5G experience, there are other contributing factors, such as population density and backhaul infrastructure. India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population density as per the latest World Bank data of 473 inhabitants per square kilometer, compared to 26 in Brazil - 18.5 times higher. The limited availability of fiber backhaul in India, particularly in rural areas, leads to bottlenecks, slowing down 5G speeds. Mobile backhaul, though common in rural regions, lacks the capacity to support high-speed 5G effectively.
Furthermore, Brazil’s lower population density with swaths of remote expanses, such as the Amazon rainforest, creates economic challenges for rolling out 5G in rural and remote areas. Operators face higher costs per user and lower Return on Investment (ROI) when building infrastructure in sparsely populated regions.
India and Brazil's 5G rollouts demonstrate two distinct approaches to spectrum management and network deployment, each with its own advantages and challenges. Both India and Brazil face the challenge of finding the perfect balance between coverage and performance. Moving forward, both countries will benefit from careful spectrum management. While spectrum plays a key role, other factors such as network congestion, infrastructure, backhaul capacity, availability of 5G devices, 5G tariffs, geography, and level of urbanization also influence users' 5G experience.
Opensignal's analysis of India and Brazil's 5G experience in partnership with GSMA highlights the critical importance of spectrum management. As India and Brazil continue to evolve their 5G strategies, both nations stand at the forefront of mobile connectivity in their regions. While India has achieved strong 5G Availability, Brazil has achieved fast average 5G download speeds. As they refine their strategies, continued innovation and investment will help overcome challenges like network congestion and rural connectivity, driving digital transformation and economic growth. The progress made so far sets a solid foundation for both countries to lead in 5G and inspire other emerging markets. For further insights and a deeper analysis of the spectrum impact, subscribe to Opensignal’s newsletter. To read more about spectrum, visit GSMA Spectrum.
Methodology note — band names:
Low-band spectrum — sub-1GHz frequencies
Mid-band spectrum — 1-6GHz frequencies
lower mid-band — spectrum bands between 1.5GHz and 2.6GHz
upper mid-band — 3.3GHz to 3.8GHz (otherwise known as C-band)
mmWave — spectrum in the milimetre wave range — 24-100GHz
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