In 2014, nearly 75% (2.1 billion) of all internet users in the world (2.

8 billion) live in the top 20 countries.

The remaining 25% (0.7 billion) is distributed among the other 178 countries, each representing less than 1%
of total users.
China, the country with most users (642 million in 2014), represents nearly 22% of total, and has more users
than the next three countries combined (United States, India, and Japan). Among the top 20 countries, India is
the one with the lowest penetration: 19% and the highest yearly growth rate. At the opposite end of the
range, United States, Germany, France, U.K., and Canada have the highest penetration: over 80% of
population in these countries has an internet connection.
An Internet User is defined as an individual who has access to the Internet at home, via computer or mobile
devcie
User
An individual who has access to the Internet at home. This indicator does not record use, or frequency of use,
but only access. In order to have access, the hardware equipment must be in working conditions, the Internet
subscription service must be active, and the individual household member must have access to it at any time
(there must be no barriers preventing the individual from using the Internet). The hardware equipment may
or may not be owned by the household. There are no age limits (minimum or maximum), so an Internet user
can be of any age. There can be multiple devices and services within the household. The data is collected
through annual household surveys administered by individual countries based on ITU guidelines.
[1]
The United
Nations Statistics Division has recommended collection of data on households accessing the Internet also
outside of home
[2]
, but this is not a Core ICT Indicator.
[3]
An "Internet User" is therefore defined as an
individual who can access the Internet, via computer or mobile device, within the home where the
individual lives.
Internet
A world-wide computer network that can be accessed via a computer, mobile telephone, PDA, games
machine, digital TV, etc. The Internet access service can be provided through a fixed (wired) or mobile
network: analogue dial-up modem via standard telephone line, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network),
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or ADSL, Cable modem, High speed leased lines, Fiber, Powerline, Satellite
broadband network, WiMAX, Fixed CDMA, Mobile broadband network (3G, e.g. UMTS) via a handset or card,
Integrated SIM card in a computer, or USB modem.

Liberalisation and privatisation has brought 15 cellular operators in both GSM
and CDMA segments and about 190 internet and broadband service providers.
With intense competition, companies try to woo and retain customers for
longer period of time, for which, consumer satisfaction are key variables to
maximise the average revenue per user (ARPU).
India is rapidly advancing in the technological space. With the growing population and increasing smartphone penetration, India is going mobile and
digital. Smartphone and internet is not just for the rich and wealthy but more users are becoming informed by getting access of mobile internet.
However, the growth is still not at par with the other countries. Through an infographic, well try to delve into the vital stats of Digital India.

Out of the 1.25 billion people in India, only one-fifth of the people use internet and only 50% of these are using social media. The growth of
social media sites, especially Facebook, is accelerating the adoption rate. Surprisingly, out of the 886 million mobile subscribers TRAI claims
different figure of 933 million users though only 10% access social media sites on their mobile. The advent of low-price smartphones and cut-throat
price competition in internet tariffs might change this trend and more users in the country may become tech and net-savvy.

The number of mobile internet users in India is low though, share of traffic on mobile devices is more than the share of traffic on desktop. The
average low speed in India is less than half the global average, which is one of the reasons of low internet penetration in the country.

The number of unique subscribers are less than half of total 886 million subscribers. The anomaly could be the result of attractive offers on a new
sim or the first recharge benefits offered by the telecom companies that make the consumers switch in a very short time. Against the 70% sim
penetration in India, the mobile penetration has not even reached the one-third citizens. Understandably, an average Indian has 2.5 sims to his
name.


Read more: http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/07/11/mobile-internet-india-2014-349-million-unique-mobile-phone-users-70-traffic-mobile-india-shining-
infographic/#ixzz3F69wysY0
according to On Device Research.
In many developing nations, the majority of mobile Web users are mobile-only, highest include Egypt at 70 percent
and India at 59 percent.
Introduction
Telecom services have been acknowledged globally as an essential tool for the socio-economic development of a nation. India is currently the worlds second-largest
telecommunications market and has registered exceptional growth in the past few years.
Telecommunications is one of the prime support services needed for rapid growth and modernisation of various sectors of the economy. Driven by strong adoption of data
consumption on handheld devices, the total mobile services market revenue in India will reach US$29.8 billion in2014 and is expected to touch US$37 billion in 2017,
registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2 per cent, according to research firm IDC.
The rapid strides in the telecom sector have been facilitated by liberal policies of the Government of India that provides easy market access for telecom equipment and a
fair regulatory framework for offering telecom services at affordable prices. The deregulation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms have made the sector one of the
fastest growing and a top five employment opportunity generator in the country.
Market size
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 933 million in March 2014 to 935.81 million (Wireless- 907.44 million, Wireline- 28.36 million) in April 2014, as
per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The countrys GSM operators added 2.10 million rural users in June 2014 taking their total to 302.73 million, according to data released by Cellular Operators' Association
of India (COAI).
Bharti Airtel has the maximum rural users at 96.63 million as of June 2014, whereas Vodafone added the maximum during the month of June to take its rural user base to
90.91 million. Idea Cellular's rural subscriber base stood at 76.85 million at the end of the month, whereas that of Aircel and Uninor stood at 25.96 million and 12.38 million,
respectively.
As of May 2014, the top three telcos - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular - have garnered market shares of 28.41 per cent, 22.95 per cent and 18.79 per cent, taking
their subscribers to over 208 million, 168 million and 137 million, respectively.
Investments
FDI in the telecom sector, which includes radio paging, cellular mobile, and basic telephone services, grew manifold to Rs 13,889 crore (US$ 2.25 billion) during April-July
2014. FDI inflows in the sector during the period April 2000-July 2014 stood at Rs 80,608.47 crore (US$ 13.1 billion), as per data released by Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The following are some of the major investments and developments in the Indian telecom sector:
Reliance Jio Infocomm has signed an agreement to share 500 towers of Videocon Telecom in UP(W), UP(E), Bihar and Jharkhand, as it aims to
roll out its high speed data and voice services faster and at a lower cost across India.
Idea Cellular joined hands with Opera Software and Quikr to offer sponsored mobile data through 'Sponsored Web Passes' to Ideas 137 million
plus customers in India. Under the arrangement, Idea customers will get free 10 MB data usage for an entire day.
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has won a contract worth Rs 2,442 crore (US$ 396.91 million) from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to supply,
trench, lay, install, test and commission optical fibre cable network which will establish optical national long distance backbone and optical
access routes for the defence network.
Aircel has launched 4G services across four circles - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Odisha - making it the second operator to launch the
services in the country. With this launch, Aircel now offers services under all the three existing telecom technologies (2G, 3G and 4G LTE).
Further, the company has tied up with Micromax to launch the latter's new 3G smartphone - Canvas Beat.
Bharti Airtel, the countrys largest mobile operators by revenue and subscribers, has launched a 3G Wi-Fi dongle that enables downloads of up
to 21.6 mbps. This speed is more than double of the present 9.8 mbps.
Nokia Networks has won a dozen deals with major Indian operators during the first half of 2014, as compared to the 16 deals signed last year.
Government Initiatives
The Government of India plans to invest Rs 39,458 crore (US$ 6.41 billion) in BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) over the next five years.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) plans to set up an application development centre with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore (US$ 162.92 million) over a three-year period. The
move aims to generate income for the Universal Services Obligation (USO) fund in addition to the revenue share received from telecom operators.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is planning to extend basic mobile coverage, including voice calling, in far-flung areas of eight northeastern
states, at an estimated cost of over Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 812.63 million). While approximately Rs 2,400 crore (US$ 390.06 million) will be spent as capital expenditure
(tower installation and laying cables), the remaining Rs 2,670 crore (US$ 433.94 million) would be for maintenance and operation expenditure (op-ex) over a five-year-
period.
The government has planned to establish a close to 1,200 km direct subsea optic fibre cable link between the Indian mainland and Andaman and Nicobar Islands to
improve telecom connectivity in this strategically located archipelago.
Road Ahead
India will emerge as a leading player in the virtual world by having 700 million internet users of the 4.7 billion global users by 2025, as per a Microsoft report.
The National Telecom Policy, 2012, has visualised doubling the current telecom capacity and increasing its reach to over 95 per cent of India while providing broadband
level of internet capability. Revenue from the fixed broadband services in India is expected to grow at 7.8 per cent annually to reach US$ 2.12 billion by 2017, on back of
demand for bandwidth driven by cloud and video, according to IDC.
It has also been predicted by Ericsson that India's mobile subscriber base will grow from 6.8 billion in Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2014 to 9.2 billion by the end of 2019.
Exchange Rate Used: INR 1 = US$ 0.0162 as on September 26, 2014
References: Media Reports and Press Releases, Cellular Operators Authority of India (COAI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Department of
Telecommunication (DoT), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)
At present OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) connectivity is available in all State Capitals, Districts, HQs and upto
the Block Level. There is a plan to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country. This will be done
by utilizing existing fibres of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) and laying incremental fibre to connect to
Gram Panchayats wherever necessary. Dark fibre network thus created will be lit by appropriate technology
thus creating sufficient bandwidth at the Gram Panchayats. This will be called the National Optical Fibre
Network (NOFN). Thus connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats and Blocks will be filled.

Non-discriminatory access to the NOFN will be provided to all the Service Providers. These service providers
like Telecom Service Providers(TSPs), ISPs, Cable TV operators and Content providers can launch various
services in rural areas. Various categories of applications like e-health, e-education and e-governance etc.
can be provided by these operators. The NOFN project is estimated to cost about Rs. 20,000 Cr. It is
proposed to be completed in 2 years time. The project will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation
Fund (USOF).
Policy Aspiration of BB
Draft NTP2012
TODAY: No. of BB connections ( 256 Kbps) =13.5
million (Jan 2012)
Vision : BB on Demand
Increase rural teledensity from 35 to 60 (year 2017)
100 (year 2020)
Affordable and reliable broadband on demand(year
2015)
BB connections targets
175 million ( year 2017 )
600 million ( year 2020 ) at minimum 2 Mbps DL
speed
higher speeds of at least 100 Mbps on demand.
Recognise telecom and BB connectivity as a basic
necessity like
education and health & work towards Right to
Broadband.
All good things come with a price tag this saying might not be true anymore in the current scenario in the telecom industry. Telecom companies are now
offering iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4 free with their plans. Handset manufacturers are tying up with telecom operators to provide bundled offerings. Still the
question remains: can these bundling offers attract the masses and classes in India and can these help operators to differentiate their services to gain
competitive advantage? There are several arguments both for and against this. Here are some perspectives:

Prepaid Market: Bundling is very successful in mature western world primarily due to the presence of extensive postpaid market and little requirement of
innovation in the tariff plans. India, on the other hand, is 96.2 per cent prepaid market and needs constant change in offers and plans. The prepaid Average
Revenue per User (ARPU) is only around Rs 97 in India. Also this segment has a monthly churn rate of 4 to 5 per cent.
- See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/telecom/does-bundling-make-sense-in-india/1271490/page-1.html#sthash.hhWL609O.dpuf So the
bundling of high end handset with SIM, which is generally possible in postpaid, might not be appealing in India. However, it can entice the youth segment and
young families who are tech-savvy and would like to flaunt latest handsets in their social group. This segment could be easily attracted by high end
smartphones like iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy. But then, this is a niche market in India for people whose monthly spent on mobile is in excess of Rs 1,500.

Bundling of low-cost handsets with some special services for rural customers has already been quite successful. e.g. Bharti Airtel and the Indian Farmers
Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) had launched a joint venture that offers low-cost handsets bundled with a set of services designed to help farmers. The services
include five free voice messages each day that provide updates on market prices, farming techniques, weather forecasts, rural health initiatives, and fertiliser
availability. Such collaborations are increasingly important today for gaining a foothold in the low-cost markets and to achieve a volume-based cost driver.

Recovery Of Cost From Subscribers: Currently most of the operators provide the bundling offer with credit card where the amount is blocked on card for the
period of EMI. This can be a challenge in India where the average monthly credit card spent is approx. Rs 6,322 and only 19.5 million credit cards are in use.
So the reach of these offers is limited to very few subscribers. Further, the operators will have to modify the scheme if they wish to reach other customers in
which case recovery might pose a huge challenge.

Mobile Number Portability: Bundling could help to retain the high ARPU customers from moving to other operators due to implementation of MNP by tying
them into legal contracts for some months or years. This could further help to reduce the high churn rate in India and hence minimise the effect of MNP.
Conversely, the same reason of locking customers with operator saw a reverse reaction after the launch of MNP where maximum CDMA users moved to GSM
network/mobiles. Probably, the restriction of using operators handset only and limited options in CDMA handsets forced the subscribers towards other service
providers. In addition, Indian subscribers are accustomed to the freedom of changing operators and handsets anytime based on the discounts or freebies
offered.

Dual SIM: Deloittes global mobile consumer survey shows that people in India would like to use dual SIM handsets to combine the services of multiple service
providers. This multi-SIM handset market is growing more than 60 per cent annually.

3G/4G: Bundling offers to attract users towards 3G/4G services might be more successful. The operator can gain a market power in primary market (voice &
data services) by using bundling as a tool to gain a competitive advantage through secondary market (handsets). Bundling could not only moderate the 3G/4G
handset price but could also help to trim down the price of data plans. Furthermore, domestic handset manufacturers have established a strong footprint in India
with low priced handsets targeting the needs of urban and rural population. So bundling of 3G/4G handset with attractive tariff plans can pull the masses
towards these offers. If the subscriber does not need to make an upfront payment of Rs 6000-35,000 for a 3G/4G enabled handset and is given the liberty to
pay it in installments over an year or two, it might be a win-win situation for all the players in the value chain. Operators and handset makers could aspire to
gain mass adoption of 3G/4G services and customers could benefit from latest handsets and high speed data plans. Service providers and handset
manufacturers need to join hands to create an ecosystem for data services to flourish in India.

Limited Options: Handset makers are creating limited options for users to buy the latest and high end handsets only in a bundle. e.g. iPhone 4 could be
bought only from Aircel or Airtel through their services. This type of device bundling strategy could help operators for greater adoption of their services and high
predictability in revenue, but could lead to an upsurge in grey market of these handsets in India.

Revenue Share: Trai had suggested DoT to exempt the revenues of cellular operators from the sale of handsets for the purpose of calculating their turnover
and license fee. This could have enabled operators to offer handsets at more competitive prices. Currently operators also have to pay revenue share on
handset revenue.

Going Forward: There could be two learning from this. Firstly, the bundling offers could work if operator provides more options in handsets from different
manufacturers and models. Secondly, the bundling of services by operator could also help to reduce the worries of price conscious Indian users. It will be
increasingly difficult for providers to offer standalone services given the financial drawback for breaking the bundle. i.e. providers price bundled services at a
significant discount versus their standalone products. While bundled services often reduce a customers total bill, those that do not want to bundle can pay a
higher price per product for subscribing to only 1-2 services. So far, the Indian market has been voice-driven, but the data services are also fast picking up (92
per cent increase in mobile data traffic generated by both 2G and 3G services in India as per NSN Mbit Index). Incumbents may also use bundling as a quality
leverage method through their stable voice networks in order to attract customers towards data services. The pricing of the package should be attractive
enough to pull voice users towards data services.

Offering bundling as a differentiation strategy could lead to reduction in competition in the communication sector. Telecom companies need to do clear
segmentation and targeting of customers to have success with bundling offers.

- See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/telecom/does-bundling-make-sense-in-india/1271490/page-1.html#sthash.hhWL609O.dpuf