Mobile Internet users in India expected to cross 371 million by June 2016 says IAMAI

It is expected that the number of mobile Internet users in India to grow by 55 percent to 371 million in June this year, driven by strong adoption in rural areas of the country, reported the IAMAI industrial group.

Mobile Internet users in the country has increased steadily from 238 million in June last year to 306 million by the end of December 2015, a report by the Association of Internet and mobile India (IAMAI) – said IMRB International.

Of the 306 million Internet users, 219 million Internet users are in the urban part of the country. The user base grew by 71 percent year on year.

Moreover, the user base in rural India rose 93 percent from December 2014 to reach 87 million by the end of December 2015.

The report found subscribers in urban India who use mobile Internet primarily for online communication (80 percent), social networks (74 percent), entertainment (30 percent), online shopping (13 percent) and ticket sales online (11 percent).

In rural India, 52 percent said they had used the Internet for entertainment, 39 percent for social network, 37 percent for communications, one percent for online purchases and 0.4 percent for online ticket sales.

The report also found that the share of mobile internet spending (average monthly bill) has increased by 64 percent in 2015 compared with 54 percent in 2014.

This is despite the average monthly bill reduced by 18 percent in 2015 (RS. 360) compared to the previous year (Rs 439 in 2014).