The number of Wi-Fi hotspots in India is about 31,000.
There is one Wi-Fi hotspot for every 150 citizens globally. India can reach that level of Wi-Fi hotspot penetration if the country installs more than 8 million hotspots.
The number of Internet users in India is expected to double to 600 million users by 2020 from the current 343 million.
The expansion of 4G and 3G networks will be one of the growth drivers.
Rural adoption of data-enabled devices for Internet connectivity is expected to increase with the BharatNet initiative under the Digital India drive, according to the study conducted jointly by the Associated Chambers of Commerce (Assocham) and Deloitte.
Internet user base in India has reached over 27 percent penetration compared to 50.3 percent in China.
India is already the second largest mobile phone market, with over 1 billion mobile subscriptions. The number of smartphone users account for approximately 240 million subscriptions, which is expected to grow to 520 million by 2020.
Spectrum availability in Indian metros is about a 10th of the same in cities in the developed countries. This has put a major roadblock in providing high-speed data services. Public Wi-Fi penetration remains low.
The study said challenges in policy, such as taxation, right of way, restrictive regulations, etc., are major roadblocks in realizing the vision of Digital India. Some of the common policy hurdles, including the lack of clarity in FDI policies, for instance, have impacted the growth of e-commerce.
Despite rising smartphone penetration and Internet user base, digital literacy in India has been low.
