Indian Net users set to cross half billion in 3 years

21st July 2015
Indian Net users set to cross  half billion in 3 years

New Delhi, July 21, 2015: The growth story of mobile internet in India is on the upsurge finds astudy by KPMG for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
The report -- “India On The Go – Mobile Internet Vision Report 2017” -- projects  236 million mobile internet users by 2016  and 314 million by 2017.  All internet users ( including mobile) by 2017 will hit 500 million.|
As of 2014, the Active Internet User (AIU) base in rural India was 6.7% of the overall rural population of 905 million and accounted for 61 million users. 4.4% of the total rural population used a mobile device to access the Internet; a figure that stood at a meagre 0.4% in the year 2012.
The 2G user base in India is projected to decline in the coming years as more and more customers are expected to migrate from 2G to 3G. The 3G user base is projected to grow at a CAGR of 61.3% from 2013-17. There were approximately 82 million 3G subscribers in India by the end of year 2014 and the number is projected to reach 284 million by end of year 2017.  However, the rural growth story in the coming years will likely be written by 2G technologies: as of June 2014, nearly 50% of the AIU in rural areas accessed Internet using mobile phones, Community Service Centers (CSC) and Cyber Cafes. 38% of the Active Internet Users use Mobile phone as the main access point. 
Says Ashvin Vellody, Partner – Management Consulting, KPMG in India: “With more than 300 million internet users, India has the second largest internet user base in the world. But the internet penetration at 19 per cent (approx) is poor and limits the potential. The next wave of growth in penetration of internet will driven by adoption of mobile internet. The mobile internet growth story would be written by the large population in the hinterland and meaningful and compelling content/ use cases would enable adoption of mobile internet.” He further stated, “It is imperative to connect Indians through internet of which the mobile internet will play a key role since reliable accessibility will be the killer app that will bind the internet ecosystem together, increase adoption and enable innovation in business models around voice and data services.”
Adds Dr. Subho Ray – President IAMAI: “While the urban market has not reached its saturation point, it will be non - metros and rural India that will be driving internet growth in India. And this is where mobile internet will be playing a pivotal role. The advent of low cost smartphones coupled with low mobile tariffs has empowered consumers in the hinterland to use data connectivity and we will seeing more usage of internet from these areas in the months to come.”
Link to full report in PDF ( 80 pages)   here
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India's 1 billion telecom subscribers have the potential to become
1 billion internet users in the near future..... The Key drivers will be
financial services and e-commerce
--
Himanshu  Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular, in his keyote
at the Mobile World Congress, Shanghai, July 15 2015.
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