6 million new Internet users in India in 2006-2007 but broadband growth rates are stalling

Posted by Ram Viswanathan

July 15, 2007

Its 2007, the "Year of Broadband" in India, but broadband growth rates are stalling! The dream was for 9 Million broadband (>=256kbps) subscribers by year end.

However the latest numbers show the number of subscribers at just 2.46 Million and the growth rate in May dropped to 0.04 million from 0.13 million in the previous month. See here for more details and how Indian operators believe that launching IPTV service will get 80 - 90% of subscribers adding this service.

Here's the article about the survey numbers on number of Internet users in India:

India added 6 million Internet users last year, survey finds - livemint

India had 30 million internet users in April, six million more than it had a year ago, according to a survey released on Friday, and 20 million of these users are on the Net daily. These are the findings of Juxt Consult Pvt. Ltd, a Delhi-based Internet research firm.

Another great one from this article:

Interestingly, the survey found that the Internet users who accessed the Net from home spent more time surfing the Net than watching television, reading newspapers or listening to radio.

I expected that one! Remember, most internet subscribers in India browse the Net through cyber cafes such as Sify's iWay and Reliance's WebWorld or at the office. Only BSNL's nationwide expansion project for DSL service can cause a resurgence in growth rates. And nothing beats providing rural connectivity for broadband - the dream and goal is broadband connectivity in every single one of the 600k villages in India by 2012.

Technorati Tags: IPTV, Broadband in India, TelcoTV

Broadband Internet, Internet in India, TelcoTV, Telecom

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