Mobile Internet users in India expected to cross 371 million by June, finds IAMAI

The number of mobile Internet users in India is expected to grow over 55 per cent to 371 million by June this year, driven by strong adoption in rural parts of the country, industry body IAMAI said today. Mobile Internet userbase in the country has steadily increased from 238 million in June last year to 306 million at the end of December 2015, a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)- IMRB International said. Of the 306 million internet users, 219 million users are from urban part of the country. The userbase saw a growth of 71 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, the userbase in rural India went up 93 per cent from December 2014 to reach 87 million at the end of December 2015. The report found subscribers in urban India using mobile Internet mostly for online communication (80 per cent), social networking (74 per cent), entertainment (30 per cent), online shopping (13 per cent) and online ticketing (11 per cent). In rural India, 52 per cent said they used Internet for entertainment, 39 per cent for social network, 37 per cent communication, one per cent for online shopping and 0.4 per cent for online ticketing. The report also found the share of mobile Internet spend (out of average monthly bill) has increased to 64 per cent in 2015 as compared to 54 per cent in 2014. This is despite the average monthly bill reducing to the extent of 18 per cent in 2015 (Rs 360) compared to the previous year (Rs 439 in 2014). PTI