Internet usage in India is on a perennial upward swing, it seems. A few days after IAMAI released data pertaining to surging Internet usage in the largest cities in India, we now have official data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) pointing towards the expected number of Internet users in India.
According to data released by the TRAI [PDF link] as part of their performance indicator report, the total number of Internet subscribers in India is fast approaching the 200 million mark. The net subscriber base of Internet users increased by a significant 20.38% and reached 198.39 million during the second quarter of 2013. In comparison, the number of Internet subscribers at the end of the first quarter was just 164.81 million. Last year, the same number was at a paltry 100 plus million. China, India’s chief rival in this space already crossed 500 million users back in January 2012 – a good two years ago! TRAI also divulged that the country’s telecom subscriber based currently stands at 903.09 million. Of these, 873.36 million were mobile subscribers – and the rest, landline.
Also pertinent to note is that the huge surge in Internet usage is coming from mobile phones which accounted for 89% of the share. In fact, if we look at the number of subscribers who access the Internet using mobilephones, it stands at 176.5 million during the quarter ended June 2013.
Following are the most used ISP’s in India according to their market share
- Bharti Airtel Ltd – 26.16%
- Vodafone – 23.34%
- Idea Cellular – 18.94%
- Reliance Communications – 16.25%
TRAI also revealed that the number of subscribers who access Internet on devices other than mobile phones (and tablets) increased from 21.61 million at the end of March to 21.89 million at the end of June, up 1.3%. Of these, only 15.2 million at the end of June.
