New Delhi: There has been steep rise in internet connections from 34 crore in 2016 to 56 crore as of September 2018 in India. The rapid growth in internet penetration is being attributed to introduction of affordable data plans, according to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
A whopping 96 per cent (54 crore) of the internet connections are mobile based. The rest 2 crore avail of broadband services.
The introduction of Reliance’s Jio is being seen as one of the chief factors, prior to which mobile data was as expensive as Rs 250 per 1 GB. Currently, the same costs less than Rs 5.
The number of internet connections has grown by 17 per cent in the last one year, from 42 crore to 56 crore. Rural area constitutes 36 per cent (19.4 crore) of the connections, a spike attributed to government actively developing infrastructure.
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra account for 36 per cent (20 crore) of all internet connections in the country, the report added.
