INDIA SET FOR AN INTERNET EXPLOSION BY 2017

In figures that will come as a boost for the Indian government's Digital India plans, the internet user base in the country is set for a considerable explosion within two years.More than 50 per cent of internet users are likely to make the best of mobile-only usage, as a result of a 27.8 per cent hike in mobile users annually, a new report has found.'India on the go-mobile Internet Vision', compiled by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and global consultancy KPMG, finds that the country's internet user base (wireline and wireless) will hit 503 million by 2017 from an estimated 350 million.“The number of mobile internet users in India was approximately 159 million in 2014. This number is expected to continue to grow rapidly and hit 314 million by end of year 2017,” the report concludes.KPMG said: “The next wave of growth in penetration of internet will be driven by adoption of mobile internet.“The mobile internet growth story would be written by the large population in the hinterland and meaningful and compelling content/use cases would enable adoption of mobile internet.”The report also has some encouraging forecasts for rural India, which is steadily moving towards a more “internet friendly and exploratory mind-set”.By 2014, the active internet user (AIU) base in rural India was 6.7 per cent of the overall rural population of 905 million and accounted for 61 million users with 4.4 per cent of the total rural population using a mobile device to access the internet; a figure that stood at just .4 per cent in 2012.The rural growth story, in contrast to urban India, will likely be written by 2G technologies as 3G and 4G may continue to be primarily an urban phenomenon for the next few years.