If you look at Internet penetration through-out India, it is abysmally low. Infact, most of the Indian villages will not even know what Internet is. However, scenario is very different when it comes to large metros and A cities in India, where internet usage is catching up fast.
According to recently release report by Internet and Mobile Association of Indian (IAMAI), overall, the the top 4 metros have a 37% penetration of Active Internet Users.
City-Wise Internet Users
Though Bangalore is called the Silicon Valley of India, it only has the 6th highest number of active internet users in India at 3.8 million. On the other hand India’s financial capital Mumbai has nearly 3 times mores with 12 million active internet users.
In last one year alone, Mumbai has added 3.7 million new internet users. There is no doubt that mobile internet is playing a crucial role in the growth of internet usage across various cities.
In terms of growth, Kolkata has registered the highest growth of internet users among all the top cities in India with 47% more internet users than last year. Mumbai with 45% y-o-y growth is second while Bangalore with a growth 43% y-o-y is third. Pune, with a growth of 37% is fourth while Delhi with a y-o-y growth of 35% is fifth.
Mobile Internet Leading the Charge
If you take a look at the telecom reports that we publish monthly on trak.in, you will know that broadband growth has been dismal. By end of September, the total broadband subscriber base was only 15.36 million. Most of the internet usage is now coming from mobile. With 3G rates falling further, mobile internet usage is only going to increase further.
If you look at this statcounter graph shown above, you can clearly see that desktop internet usage is dropping, while mobile internet is growing at good pace.