Nearly 420 million to access mobile Internet in India by June: IAMAI

The growth in user base is faster in rural parts as the addition is propelled by falling data charges and affordable smartphones.

Mobile phones, Internet users in India, Mobile Internet Users, Mobile penetration India, mobile phones, telecom growth in India, number of mobile phones India, Internet and Mobile Association of India, Tech news, Indian Express

Photo for representational purposes.

India is expected to have 420 million mobile Internet users by June this year, with urban consumers spending as much as Rs 275 a month on data, a report by industry body IAMAI said on Tuesday. The number of mobile Internet users in the country at the end of December last year was estimated to be 389 million, as per the report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB.

Of the 420 million, about 250 million users are expected to come from urban India, while the remaining 170 million would be in rural parts of the country.

The growth in user base is faster in rural parts of the country as the addition is propelled by falling data charges and smartphones becoming more affordable.

The report found urban users being top consumers of communication, social networking and entertainment on mobile Internet, while in rural India, entertainment rules the roost.

As per the report, urban users are paying as much as Rs 552 a month with about 50 per cent going towards data charges.

In urban India, the young spend a greater proportion of their monthly bill on data usage, while voice component increases steadily with age, the report found.

As per the report, the average monthly bill is highest for the age group of 45 years and both mobile data and voice expenditures for this age group were found to be the highest.

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“Thus, while in terms of uptake, the younger generation is driving the growth of telecom services in urban India, more senior generations provide higher average revenue per user (ARPU) for telcos,” it said.