India, the emerging economies of the world, once again reported at bottom of statistics. This time it’s Gallup International Home Internet User Survey. According to the survey, Indian is among bottom 41 countries, where Home Internet Users are less than 10{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} of the population.
Why is the survey significant? The internet access to home (not on Smartphone or nearby Cafe) means a lot. The survey itself points out the fact that, almost all developed & under development economies either have more than 80{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} home internet penetration or they are at par with global average.
China, our nearest competitor, is well placed in terms of Fibre Connectivity. China has 34{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} of users having access to Internet at home (Fibre/Copper/Wi-Fi), while Russia & Brazil stands at 51{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} & 40{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} respectively.Even the poor South Africa boasts 16{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} home Internet users.
The countries like Sudan, Iran, Kenya, Iraq, Nepal & B’desh boast better Home Internet connectivity than India.
What actually helps in increasing the Home Internet Connection? It boils down to the fact that, India, as known to be, a poor country with lack of basic infrastructure in place. So be it roads, electricity, water & now Copper as well. In fact, very few well-placed localities in Indian metros boast copper/fibre lines to their home. In India, more than 85{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} of total Internet users still rely on DSL-Copper for Internet, the total count itself is insignificant.
Although India might outnumber few of the listed economies in terms of Smartphone based Internet Access, Home Internet access actually drives more consumption of Information, resulting into better opportunities to population. But lack of infra & rising costs of laying copper/fibre across country, especially in metros, might drive away the goal of providing Internet access to every home.
The survey ranks Sweden (93{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}) at top, followed by Singapore (93{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}) & Denmark (92{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}) among 148 countries. US ranked at 23rd with 80{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} Home Internet penetration.
