India witness surge in internet penetration by 33% to 560 Mn in 18 months

India is witnessing rapid growth in internet penetration on the back of cheaper data and supporting infrastructure.

The number of internet connection has grown by 17 per cent in a year, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report.

From 42 crore (420 Mn) in March last year, the number of internet users have climbed to 56 crore (560 Mn) as of September 2018. In the last two years, 22 crore (220 Mn) new internet connection has been added.

In 2016, India internet connection stood at 34 crore.

Urban area constituted 65 per cent of the total connections, which was spurred by Reliance Jio entry. Jio was only telecom operator to add users in September, TRAI had said in its previous report.

Of the total internet connection, 36 per cent (19.4 crore) belonged to rural regions. The spike in the number of rural users has been attributed to govt initiative related to creating infrastructure.

In the next two years, it is estimated that around 315 million Indians living in rural areas will be connected to the Internet. The share of rural India will climb to 48 per cent, as per BCG study. The upsurge will create an opportunity for brands and marketers in places where establishing a physical presence is still a challenge.

Currently, most of the rural users primarily for social network websites and email services.

The report further added that six states namely Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra account for 20 crore or 36 per cent of all internet connections in India.