The number of 3G subscribers in India is projected to reach 284 million by end of 2017 from nearly 82 million in 2014.
The 3G user base in India is rapidly gaining market and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 61.3 percent from 2013-17.
Some of the leading 3G operators in India include Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Tata Docomo, BSNL, etc.
The report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and KPMG said 2G user base in India is projected to decline in the coming years as more and more customers are expected to migrate from 2G to 3G.
The telecom analysis report did not mention anything about 4G LTE growth. The report said 3G and 4G may continue to be primarily an urban phenomenon for the next few years.
The country will have over 500 million internet users by 2017 as compared with over 350 million as of June 2015, ‘India On The Go – Mobile Internet Vision Report 2015’ pointed out.
India is projected to have 236 million mobile internet users by 2016, with the figure reaching 314 million by 2017.
“It is imperative to connect Indians through the internet, of which the mobile internet will play a key role since reliable accessibility will be the killer app that will bind the internet ecosystem together, increase adoption and enable innovation in business models around voice and data services,” said Ashvin Vellody, partner – management consulting, KPMG India.
“While the urban market has not reached its saturation point, it will be non-metros and rural India that will be driving the internet growth in India. And this is where mobile internet will play a pivotal role,” said Subho Ray, president of IAMAI.
The advent of low-cost smartphones, coupled with low mobile tariffs, has empowered consumers in the hinterland to use data connectivity and India will see more usage of internet from these areas in the months to come.
In 2014, the Active Internet User (AIU) base in rural India was 6.7 percent of the overall rural population of 905 million and accounted for 61 million users. 4.4 percent of the total rural population used a mobile device to access the Internet against 0.4 percent in 2012.
As of June 2014, nearly 50 percent of the AIU in rural areas accessed Internet using mobile phones, community service centers (CSC) and cyber cafes. 38 percent of the active Internet users use mobile phone as the main access point.
