India Mobile Internet Use Soars
India mobile internet use is going from strength to strength. This low income country has historically had low levels of internet use, however the combination of fast growing wages and the availability of cheap mobile devices has allowed huge numbers of people in the world’s second largest country to get access to the internet.
According to the US giant Cisco Systems, much of this rise in India mobile internet use is also down to an innovative Indian company called Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio have a high speed 4G mobile internet network that is competitively prices. Their aggressive pricing strategy has led to an industry wide reduction in data prices that has made it much easier for Indian mobile users to get online.
India Mobile Internet Use Benefits
Reliance Jio entered the market in 2016 and immediately triggered a slide in data prices across all service providers. It is estimated that data prices fell on average from Rs 250 per gigabyte in 2014 to Rs 19 per gigabyte now. This is less than 8% of previous prices. Furthermore, the smartphone penetration rate in India is likely to go up to 39% in 2019, providing an even bigger boost for India mobile internet use and companies that rely on the internet for business in this expanding market.
“Reduction in data prices in last 2-3 years with one of the players is driving the usage of digital devices, and the people who don’t use smartphones earlier, are using today even for entertainment and over-the-top (OTT) services,” Cisco India & SAARC president Sameer Garde told ETTelecom.
“We helped them (Jio) set up state-of-the-art network. As and when it starts enterprise business, we will start engaging with Jio,” Garde added.
“Due to digitalisation and growing Internet penetration over last few years, India has become a global country. There is a lot of discussion around 5G radio. It is also important to look into backhaul management and network upgradation while we embark on 5G,” the Cisco executive said.