Mobile broadband Internet penetration in India stood at 4.9 in 2012 against China’s 17.2, 123.3 in Singapore, 113.1 in Japan, 106 in Korea, 74.7 in the U.S., according to ITU.

In terms of mobile broadband penetration, India has been ranked at 106 among all countries in the world, ITU said.

This means, India’s 2G and 3G offerings by telecom operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, etc. are yet to empower India’s 100 crore plus population.

Also, 4G in India is at a nascent stage.

Singapore tops in mobile broadband penetration. Singapore boasts mobile internet penetration of 123.3 last year, according to ITU.

The following countries, which ranked from 2 to 8, are much better than India: Japan (113.1), Finland (106.5), Korea (106), Sweden (101.1), Australia (96.2), Denmark (87.5), Norway (84.6) and US (74.7).

China, where 3G and 4G are set to boom, has been ranked at 75.

ITU says mobile broadband subscriptions, which allow users to access the web via smartphones, tablets and Wi-Fi-connected laptops, are growing at 30 percent per year. By the end of 2013 there will be more than three times as many mobile broadband connections as there are conventional fixed broadband subscriptions.

Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration at over 97 percent.

Switzerland leads the world in fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, at over 40 percent. By comparison, the US ranks 24th in terms of household broadband penetration, and 20th in the world for fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, just behind Finland and ahead of Japan.

In terms of Internet use, there are now more than 70 countries where over 50 percent of the population is online. The top ten countries for Internet use are all located in Europe, with the exception of New Zealand (8th) and Qatar (10th).

By 2017, around half or 4.25 billion of 8.5 billion mobile connections will be 3G or 4G, according to GSMA.

In the Dominican Republic, a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration could reduce unemployment by 2.9 percent. In Indonesia, mobile broadband could boost GDP by 2.9 percent or $22.6 billion.

In India, broadband has already generated nearly 9 million direct and indirect jobs, while a 1 percent increase in broadband penetration could add $2.7 billion or 0.11 percent to Indian GDP in 2015. In South Africa, wireless broadband and related industries may generate $7.2 billion and a further 28,000 jobs by 2015.

Baburajan K
[email protected]