Internet completed it’s Silver Jubilee on 15 August 2020. In the same month, India crossed 75 million users. The rise was not in the number of data users alone, data consumption has also, consequently, increased. At an average a single user is consuming about 12 GB of data every month, which is the highest in the world. 5 Indicators help us understand the status of internet usage in the country…
•Just five major states have about 35% data usage rates, rest 23 states and 9 UTs makeup 65%
In the last four years internet user base in India has increased at a very high rate. Looking at the figures, in 2016, 34 crore people had internet access, whereas in 2020, 76 million people are using the Internet. Other important fact is that from June to August 2020 last year only 100 million users have increased. That means that approximately 71 lakh users increase every month.
When we break these figures up, it shows that users have increased in the states where the digital infrastructure has been better. These top 5 states include Maharashtra (6.4 crores), Andhra Pradesh (5.9 crores), Tamil Nadu (5.1 crores), Gujarat (4.5 crores) and Karnataka (4.6 crores), where 35% of the state has high number of users.
•Right now as an estimate; Data usage will be doubled in next 5 years
The launch of Jio Communications in 2016 and their pocket friendly schemes, like offerin g internet for free, highly increased internet user base. And with that Effect, other companies, in addition also had to reduce the prices of their services. In 2017, per capita data usage was 1.2 GB per month in 2017, which increased to an exponential 10 times to 12 GB in 2020.
•Villagers lag behind due to lack of the most and necessary network of mobile internet users
The momentum at which Internet users increased in cities and metropolitans, could not be gained in the Villages in India. There Primarily two reasons for this fact. First – The internet users that increased mainly grew because of the Mobile internet. Second- Lack of digital infrastructure prevented users from connecting to the Internet. As a result of which, the internet usage was 61% in the cities while in villages it was just 39%.
•Because of Cheap and even Free internet services, every other person has access to the Internet
Internet usage has risen, a big reason for this is the cheap internet services provided by JIO communications. Many market analysts claim that even though Jio is the newest player in this sector, the speed at which it developed it’s infrastructure could not be matched by the other Contenders in the market. This is main reason why no competitors of Jio Reliance Communication is nowhere in sight. In telecomm market, Jio has a market share of 56.4%, while Airtel is at number two with 22.2%. That is, every other Internet user is on Jio's network and every fourth user is using Airtel network.
•The price of a GB has dropped exponentially from the price of Rs200 to a staggering low price of Rs 11 in the last four years
Mask, sanitizers and PPE kits aren’t the only essentials today, Internet is another very essential commodity in today’s time, without which, life cannot be imagined. Internet has proven to be a game changer, especially in the lockdown. Small business are being run from the comfort of homes in lockdown with the help of internet. From online education, finance and healthcare, everything is available on the Internet