Boston: India will see its number of Internet users triple to 237 million from the current 81 million by 2015, according to a report.
In a study titled `Internet`s New Billion`, the Boston
Consulting Group said Brazil, Russia, India, China and
Indonesia (BRICI) will have more than 1.2 billion Internet
users by 2015 - well over three times the number of Internet
users in Japan and the US combined.
In 2009, the BRICI countries had some 610 million
Internet users.
"Internet penetration rates in the BRICI countries
will experience compound annual growth of nine to 20 percent
from 2009-2015, driven predominantly by young users who will
form the digital-market eco-systems that will be in place for
generations to come," the management consulting firm said.
With BRICI countries constituting many of the world’s
most populous nations, "it may come as little surprise that
their digital-consumer ranks will swell so quickly," the
report added.
Describing India as a "low-maturity and high growth
market", BCG said Internet penetration rate in India is
expected to reach 19 percent by 2015, up from the current
seven percent.
"There are currently about 81 million Internet users
in India - a number that will nearly triple by around 2015 to
237 million," the report said.
India`s Internet use is concentrated mainly in the
larger cities, where many users are migrants from smaller
towns. This group tends to have had limited exposure to the
Internet and therefore typically has a narrower range of
online needs than more experienced users.
"Offsetting this situation is the prevalence of
younger Indian users," the report said. Indian Internet users
spend only half an hour online each day, on average the lowest
rate among all the BRICI countries. This average will increase to only 0.7 hour per day by 2015, leaving India still bringing up the rear among BRICI users in terms of daily time spent online.
Among the most prominent trends is that BRICI digital
consumers are far more likely to be meeting their digital
needs through mobile phones than through personal computers. With PC penetration still quite low, mobile phones are cheaper and more convenient tools for both communicating and seeking out entertainment.
PTI
