Rural areas have become the engine of market growth.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Zhixiang.” (ID: Passagegroup), author Du Zhanyu.
The Internet Trend Report of 2019 released by Internet Queen Mary Meeker in June this year shows that the number of Internet users worldwide has reached 3.8 billion, accounting for more than half of the world’s population.
Among them, the number of Internet users in India has accounted for 12%, which is the second largest Internet in the world after China (21%). As an emerging market, India is also increasingly attracting the attention of global Internet companies. On such a high base, it still maintains rapid growth.
Before this report, Google pointed out that “India has an average annual increase of 40 million Internet users per year, which is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. Now India uses an average of 8GB of mobile data traffic per month. Has reached the level of developed markets.”
What is more noteworthy is that rural areas have become the main engine of Internet growth in India.
In the latest report, the Indian Internet and Mobile Association (IAMAI) predicts that thanks to the rapid development of the Internet in rural areas, Internet users in India are expected to achieve double-digit growth this year, which is expected to reach 627 million.
Read the Indian Internet
Recently, consulting firm Nielsen and the Indian Internet and Mobile Association (IAMAI) have released an Indian Internet usage report. According to the report, as of March 31, 2019, the number of monthly active users of the Indian Internet reached 451 million.
This report is called “2019 Indian Internet.” According to the report, among the 451 million active users, 385 million are over 12 years old, and there are about 66 million children aged between 5 and 11 who use the equipment of family members to access them. the Internet.
The Internet has a higher penetration rate in urban areas, with a total of 192 million users. Although the number of rural areas is 259 million, considering the gap between urban and rural populations in India, only the penetration rate and percentage are still undoubtedly Urban areas are much higher.
This also means that in rural areas, there are still quite a few people who do not have access to the Internet. This provides a huge opportunity for the growth of the Internet population in the next few years.
The
report also pointed out that 72% of urban Internet users (139 million people) use the Internet every day. The number of daily active Internet users in rural areas is only 109 million, accounting for only 57% of all users.
The
report also shows that there is a fairly significant gender difference in the use of the Internet in India. The analysis mentions that there are 258 million male Internet users and half of female Internet users. In the vast rural areas, this difference will be more obvious. In metropolitan areas with a population of more than 5 million, the ratio of men to women is 6:4.
There are some interesting facts mentioned in the report:
1.2/3 Indian Internet users are very young, concentrated in the 12-29 age range.
2. Interestingly, the proportion of users in this age group in rural areas is higher, which also shows the huge growth potential of this segment.
3. Whether in urban or rural areas, the family is the main place for Internet consumption.
4. One-third of urban Internet users access the Internet while traveling.
5. At the national level, the Delhi National Capital Territory has the highest Internet penetration rate, followed by Kerala, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab.
6. In addition to Assam and the Northeast, the Internet penetration rates in the eastern states of India are relatively low.
7. In all cities, Mumbai and Delhi led the number of Internet users by 11.7 million and 11.2 million respectively.
8. Bangalore and Calcutta tied for third with 6.1 million Internet users, followed by Chennai with 5.4 million Internet users.
Internet infrastructure on the big dry
Why is the growth rate of the Indian Internet market so amazing?
On the one hand, the Indian government continues to promote Internet adoption through the Digital India Initiative. On the other hand, major Internet giants have also contributed.
For example, Google WI-FI at 400 train stations, 4G services from Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Super WI-FI have greatly reduced the cost of using the Internet.
In June last year, Google claimed to have completed 400 trains in India.The goal of establishing a free Wi-fi hotspot in the station. The Dibrugarh Railway Station in Assam is its 400th hotspot, powered by public Wi-Fi.
The 400 hotspot projects are joint projects initiated by Google and India Railways and RailTel in three and a half years.
“Now, more than 8 million people access the Internet every month through Google Station. The average consumption of 350MB of data per use is about one and a half hours of TV program traffic, and more than half of Google Station users use it every day. Use.”
In addition, Google Station can now be used in 150 locations in Pune, Maharashtra and other smart cities to be formed.
“India has the second largest Internet user base in the world, but there are still nearly one billion Indians who cannot access the Internet. We find that not all Indians live or work near the train station, so we are taking hot spots from the train. The station moved to other cities.” Google said in its official blog.
Not just train stations, Google also plans to use the most advanced technology to provide Wi-Fi to passengers on the train.
In 2015, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Modi announced a high-speed public Wi-Fi project for 400 train stations in India. The first Wi-Fi-enabled train station was opened in downtown Mumbai in January 2016.
This is not Google’s first free Wi-Fi service in India. Earlier in 2015, it was reported that Google was working closely with Railtel, a broadband provider in India with a fiber-optic network throughout India covering 70% of India’s population.
In the same year, the Indian government also approved the Google Floating Balloon Power Internet Project called Project Loon, which aims to provide networks in rural and remote areas. However, due to some privacy issues facing the project, it is currently suspended.
But the Google team is still optimistic about its prospects in India. “Our projects in India show that public Wi-Fi plans can bring huge opportunities, and we believe that this model of providing people with a network to make money can be replicated in other countries.”
Based on the Indian model, Google launched a global public Wi- called Google Station.The Fi program, which is now launched in Indonesia and Mexico, is expected to expand to other countries.
Telecom operators fight, users benefit
Google is not alone on the road to promoting free WI-FI.
Two years ago, India’s mobile operator Vodafone also launched a high-speed Wi-Fi network under the name Super Wifi Go. This is a fully managed Wi-Fi network solution that provides unified high-speed wireless network access to all office, store and other customers.
The service is targeted at companies, governments, hotels, education, financial and insurance services, retail, restaurants, healthcare and manufacturing. The network has 24×7 remote monitoring and management, in addition to fixed operating costs (opex) and low upfront capital expenditures.
The company’s official statement shows that Vodafone has more than 1.6 million kilometers of fiber and 140,000 base stations. In addition, it has more than 2,100 business locations in more than 160 cities in India.
Since the launch of Reliance Jio in September 2016, the Indian telecommunications industry has undergone major changes, and it has contributed to the popularity of the Indian Internet. Jio claims that their first month of marketing strategies such as free Internet services, free data and free voice calls brought 16 million users.
In February 2017, Airtel also filed a complaint with Reliance Jio of the “Competitive Free Pricing Strategy for Competing Competition” from the Indian Competition Commission (CCI). Reliance Jio then sued Airtel’s so-called “The Fastest Network in India” and Not true. Eventually Reliance Jio won and Airtel had to withdraw the claim.
Reliance Jio joined the battle and led to the merger between Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.
At the time, in addition to the Indian state-owned operator BSNL, the Indian telecommunications industry was basically dominated by multinational mobile operators such as Airtel and Vodafone.
Reliance Jio’s emergence has irreversibly changed the market landscape, and even forced other service providers to reduce costs and change their marketing strategies.