Indian has more rural internet users three years after Jio’s emergence

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Towards the end of 2016, when Reliance Industries Limited came up with their brain child Jio in the market, they caused a havoc in the country. People lined up in huge numbers to collect their Jio sim, which provided them free data, up to 1gb per day, for the next three months. This move put all other big players in the country to put their foot down and reduce their service prices as well.

What Jio managed to do is make mobile internet more accessible in this country, which until 2015 was a luxury to have going by the astronomic data plan charges. Now, Jio is closing in on half a billion in this country, which indeed is spectacular and that one number throws lights on how internet is now widely available across the country.

With almost all sim card providers pretty much on the same level in terms of data plan charges, Jio’s emergence meant India was the biggest winner. India now has 504 million active users, all of whom are 5 years or above in age as per Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Neilsen. It has also helped the likes of Facebook and Google emerge victorious in many ways.

Rural users outnumber the urban ones

For the first time in Indian history, the number of rural users in the country (277 million) are more than the number of (227 million) and it helped in bridging the digital divide which was existing in this country.

“Even though internet users in rural areas are more than those in urban areas, there is immense headroom for rural growth. Close to 70 percent of the rural population does not access the internet. This will further contribute to an increase in the overall internet population over the next few years,” IAMAI-Neilsen says.

The country’s most urbanised city Mumbai has the highest Internet population of 13 million, while Delhi-NCR tops at a state level, according to the report. Delhi alone has 11.3 million internet users, trailing only Mumbai. Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai followed with 6.6 million, 6.2 million, and 6 million respectively. In the coming months, these numbers are expected to rise further, with cities like Indore, Hyderabad, Pune and others set to join the bandwagon.