India's Internet population stood at 121 million by November, making it the third-biggest globally after China and the United States, the Internet and Mobile Association of India. India is adding 5 to 7 million Internet users every month, increasingly in small-town India and among the less wealthy. At the current pace, the country will overtake the United States in less than two years, the study projected. Well the boom is imminent with the cheaper internet rates and better connectivity. More than half of the Indian internet users access Internet through mobile phones. This dramatic growth in the digital world ever since the introduction of mobile internet is a clear indication of India’s progress in technology.
All this creates business opportunities, in different degrees, for four kinds of players: e-commerce companies, investors, device makers and mobile service providers.
As the users increase the utilities payment is much sought after and travels needs are more catered online. ''Travel established proof of concept," says Subho Ray, president, Internet and Mobile Association of India. Indian Railways portal, irctc. co.in, which started in 2002, books 400,000 tickets a day. It's the country's largest e-commerce company, with a turnover of 765 Cr in 2011 and a 2015 estimate of 2,500 Cr. Even in the US, travel led e-commerce. The online shopping is also catching up."The growth validates our hypothesis about Internet being big in India," says Ravi Vora, vice-president marketing, Flipkart. Flipkart started with books, and in the past year, it has added mobile phones, laptops, cameras and home appliances.
Next there is going to be a boom in the devices market. More and more manufacturers are offering wide ranges of devices coupled with bandwidths to retain customer loyalty. Asus, HCL, Samsung and Reliance now offer tablets at around 10,000. Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries reportedly plans to offer tablets, with Internet-access cards, for around 3,000. Two things are clear. One, manufacturers are shaving off price, even as they add features.
Thirdly Investors, who are again trying to fund the online startup companies, which is turning out to be lucrative. Like Helion Advisors have 10 Internet businesses in its 40-strong portfolio, makemytrip. com, letsbuy.com and yepme.com. USbased venture fund Tiger Global has made six Internet investments in the past year, including caratlane.com, exclusively .in and babyoye.com.
Mobile service providers are going to expect the real boom, as in India internet is accessed more on the move than on the traditional systems. This only means more business to telephony companies and in turn more revenue to government. India's largest telecom company has 1.5 million fixed-line broadband subscribers, and is adding just 20% every year. But Mobile Internet will be the key to cover rural areas as well. Out of 2 billion internet users, 1.5 billion accesses from smart devices say sources. Adding that, data will compensate for the fall in voice revenue. Three years back, 20%-plus was the growth in voice.
But whatever be the reasons the entire set of players are in a win-win situation and lots of jobs are going to be generated, which is good news for the common man. We could also avail the best services at the most economical rates if the players want lure major customer base. Ultimately it is the numbers game and more customers mean more revenues.
