Internet penetration in rural India is so pathetic, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) data revealed.
Internet penetration (internet connection per 100 people in the state) in rural India did not grow primarily because Indian telecom operators did not make investment in broadband and the government started considering wireless spectrum as revenue stream to meet its financial obligations.
The above chart on Internet penetration released by TRAI indicated about a huge difference between the penetration of Internet in rural and towns across the country. Though telecom operators are fighting each other to grab the next million subscribers, rural India is yet to get attention from all operators including Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal promoted Bharti Airtel and the government run BSNL.
That’s why India does not have any single state with 100 percent Internet penetration. Ubran areas of Kerala and Himachal Pradesh enjoy 101.77 and 154.24 Internet penetration.
In terms of rural Internet penetration, Himachal Pradesh with 28.61 and Punjab with 26.84 are topping the charts.
Internet penetration in Andhra Pradesh is 15.04 in rural and 65.68 in urban, while Assam has 12.3 in rural and 64.84 in urban locations.
Internet is on growth path
The rural wireless subscribers increased from 444.84 million in March 2016 quarter to 446.33 million in June 2016 quarter. Urban wireless subscribers declined from 588.79 million to 588.78 million.
Internet subscribers increased from 342.65 million in March to 350.48 million in June with quarterly growth rate of 2.28 percent.
Wired Internet subscribers increased from 20.44 million in March to 20.76 million in June with quarterly growth of 1.55 percent.
Wireless Internet subscribers increased from 322.21 million in March to 329.72 million in June with quarterly growth rate of 2.33 percent.
Broadband subscribers increased from 149.75 million in March to 162.06 million in June.
Narrowband subscribers declined from 192.90 million in March to 188.42 million in June.
Bharti on top of Internet world
Bharti Airtel is the number one Internet service provider in India with 26.4 percent of market share followed by Vodafone with 19.89 percent.
Main service areas in terms of internet subscriptions — wired and wireless — are Maharashtra (30.36 million), Tamil Nadu including Chennai (27.96 million), Andhra Pradesh (25.86 million), U.P.(E) (24 million) and Karnataka (22.56 million).
Broadband space
Broadband subscribers increased to 162.06 million in June — 17.32 million wired broadband users and 144.74 million wireless broadband users — from 149.75 million in March.
Bharti with 40.61 million is the top broadband service providers combining its wired and wireless networks.
Vodafone has 32.28 million broadband subscribers. Idea Cellular has 27.02 million, BSNL 20.56 million, and Reliance Communications has 16.64 million broadband users.
In wired broadband, BSNL holds 57.03 percent market share with 9.88 million subscribers followed by Bharti with 1.82 million and MTNL with 1.10 million subscribers.
In wireless broadband segment, Bharti holds 26.8 percent market share with 38.79 million users followed by Vodafone with 32.27 million (22.29 percent) and Idea Cellular with 27.02 million subscribers.
Tamil Nadu including Chennai (15.35 million), Maharashtra (15.13 million), Delhi (13.02 million), Karnataka (12.92 million) and Andhra Pradesh (12.11 million) are top broadband markets in India, according to TRAI.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
