Zee Media Bureau/Salome Phelamei
Mumbai: India will soon overtake the US as the world’s second largest Internet users after China.
According to the report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB, the country will have 213 million users by December and 243 million by June next year, overtaking the Americans.
Currently, China with its 300 million users has largest Internet base in the world, followed by the US with 207 million web users. Till October 2013, India has 205 million users (including those who use internet at least once a month).
“There is every reason to believe that they will turn into active users in the near future,” says Nilotpal Chakravarti, associate vice-president, IAMAI.
According to IAMAI President Subho Ray, internet penetration in India, given its population, is still low. That’s the reason for the growth rate here to be much higher than that in the US.
India has 110 million mobile internet users (of which 25 million are in rural India) as of October 2013, and is expected to reach 130 million by December end.
Rural India has witnessed a 58 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of active internet users since June 2012. The rural base is estimated to reach 72 million by December from 68 million in October. The internet boom in the rural India is mainly motivated by the mobile phone as 70% of the users access the web via mobile phones.
