Internet and Mobile Association of India or IAMAI has conducted a research along with Kantar-IMRB, which predicts that 36% of entire India, or 47.8 crore Indians will be using the internet via mobile or laptop, by June 2018.
As per the report, the number of Internet users in India has increased to 481 million or 48.1 crore users by December 2017, which is an increase of 17.22%, compared to December 2016.
Here are 7 major highlights from the report:
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Urban India Using More Internet
Contrary to earlier beliefs, statistics have proved that growth of data usage and Internet users is more in urban locations, compared to rural areas. As per the report, between December 2016 and December 2017, the number of Internet users in urban locations increased at 18.64%, compared to rural India, where user grew at 15.03%.
However, the gap is narrowing, none the less.
Internet Penetration Improves in Urban Locations
Besides, penetration of Internet in urban locations has increased more, compared to rural areas. Between December 2016 and December 2017, Internet penetration increased by 2.26% in rural areas, while urban penetration improved by 4.24%.
Mobile Internet Users In India Are More In Urban Locations
Complimenting this fact is that there are more mobile users in urban locations, compared to rural areas. The report stated that there are 291 million urban mobile Internet users, compared to 187 million mobile internet users in rural locations.
Spendings on Voice Is Decreasing Since 2013
As per the report, mobile users are now spending less and less on voice calls, and this decline has been consistent since 2013. No doubt, the revolutionary plans by Jio has fueled this decrease even more.
The report said,
“This, in turn, means that there is a rise in the proportion of data expenditure in comparison to voice (services) expenditures for most users.”
Gender Gap Increasing
The report touches upon a sensitive issue, which is refusing to die down: Gender gap. As per the findings of the report, female users constitute just 30% of overall Internet users in India. Out of 481 million internet users in India as of December 2017, there are just 143 million female users, compared to 338 million male users.
This gender gap is worse in rural areas, compared to urban locations. Here is the ratio of male: female users: 59:41 in urban India and 64:36 in rural spaces.
Indians Below 25 Are Torch Bearer Of Mobility
As per the report, young Indians, those who are below 25 years of age are the heaviest users of the internet, across both rural and urban locations.
In fact, rural youth are more inclined to use mobile Internet, compared to urban youth.
As per the report, 46% of Urban users and 57% of Rural users under the age of 25 are heaviest users of mobile Internet.
Users between 25 to 44 across both urban and rural have approximately same usage pattern.
5G Will Elevate Rural Areas
The report predicts that 5G technology will be the catalyst, which will elevate rural areas, and bring them on par with urban location.
The has high hopes for NTP (National Telecom Policy) 2018, which emphasizes on 5G connectivity across India.