More and more Indians are getting connected to the Internet. According to quarterly reports published by telecom regulator TRAI, the number of Internet subscribers in the country has more than doubled from around 8 million in September 2006 to almost 21 million in September 2011.

Broadband push

This growth is being powered by broadband connections (minimum download speed of 256 Kbps). The number of broadband subscribers in India has grown more than six-fold from 1.8 million in September 2006 to 12.8 million in September 2011. In contrast, the 30 per cent growth in narrowband subscribers (speed of less than 256 Kbps) from around 6.3 million to 8.2 million over the five-year period seems rather sedate. Consequently, the ‘need for speed' has resulted in broadband subscribers now accounting for almost 61 per cent of Internet subscribers in the country, from only around 22 per cent five years back.

PSUs lead

Leading the number of Internet subscribers is PSU major BSNL. It has steadily grown its presence in the Internet space unlike its not-so-encouraging record in the telecom market. With almost 57 per cent market share currently, it is miles ahead of competition. Closest contenders — Reliance Communications and MTNL (another PSU) command a share of around 13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

The Internet market in India is highly concentrated with the top five players (out of 184 Internet service providers) accounting for 90 per cent of the market. It bears mention that a strong legacy presence in the narrowband segment bestows good market share advantage to the top three players. But with this segment seemingly ebbing out of favour with Indian netizens, future market share gains may require increased broadband focus.

Subscribers versus users

While the number of Internet ‘subscribers' in India (as of September 2011) is around 21 million, industry reports and surveys suggest that the number of Internet ‘users' in the country has exceeded 100 million. Yet, this is less than 10 per cent of the country's population.

The above-mentioned number of Internet subscribers does not include wireless subscribers who have the capability of accessing the Internet through mobile handsets via GSM/CDMA connections. From merely 46 million in September 2007, the number of such subscribers has zoomed to 374 million in September 2011.

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