Why India having only 25% of it's population on the Internet is not such a bad thing

-
There was a well-written article recently about how only 25% of India's adult population use the Internet, and how it is among the lowest in the world. The article, quoting Pew Research, was not only critical about Digital India, but also had a little negative tone in reporting.

Well, let's look at it from a different angle. When 25% of India's population uses the Internet:

  • The numbers are more than the entire population of US of A 
  • It is almost 3 times that of South Korea! (The article compares our Internet usage with that of Korea)
  • Even with 25% of India's population on the Internet, we have the largest number of Facebook users in the world.
  • From 13% in 2013 to 25% in 2017, the number of Internet users in India has almost doubled

So is the 'only' 25% a limitation? Let's look at it from a perspective of opportunity. Think of the numbers that are not yet on the Internet. India's population is getting younger. The census figures show that 45% of India's population is between 18 and 35 years. It is also true that most if this population has made mobile phones their medium of choice. We are already looking at a trend of the younger generation using the Internet and the mobile phones for - well, almost everything they do. So many of my students have said that they hardly ever watch the television, and prefer watching even the TV shows on their mobile phones. With increasing reach of mobile phones and content being increasingly available in regional languages, it is probable that this 25% will change dramatically over the next few years.

(Image source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/255146/number-of-internet-users-in-india/)


We need to think of the opportunities that organisations will have. Why else are the Amazons and Walmarts so keen to invest their millions here, calling India the next investment destination? Digital Marketing organisations are having a field day, with most businesses jumping the bandwagon to promote their goods online. The digital medium has also created opportunities for small investors, women and home makers to become entrepreneurs, and they have been quite successful.

In conclusion, if ONLY 25% could open up so many opportunities, what would 100%, or even an increase of 10% be like? Remember, we are talking of 10% of INDIA's population!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Pandit and the Boatman - Theory and practical knowledge

-
Image
I suppose everyone knows about this story of the Pandit and the Boatman from Kashmiri folklore. No? Well, here it is... Once a Pandit hired a boat to cross a river. Bored, he asked the boatman whether he had read the Upanishads. When the boatman replied in negative, the Pandit said that he had wasted his life. With every such question, the Pandit kept saying how the boatman had wasted his life. Suddenly, the boatman asked the Pandit if he knew swimming. The Pandit replied that he had read all the books about swimming. The boatman replied, "Then you better put what you read into practice because the boat is sinking!" The river water had risen and it was raining heavily by now. Needless to say, the Pandit started drowning. The boatman said, "You have wasted all your life by just reading about swimming. You should have also practiced." (Image Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jc8XyK2bPgI/hqdefault.jpg) Though theoretical knowledge is immensely valuable, it i
Read more

Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein - Part 3

-
Image
The Internet was launched in India in 1995. Interestingly, India's mobile services were also launched in the same year. When I got my first mobile phone in 1997, it was a heavy walkie-talkie like machine, which, had to be held in the hand, for the fear of tearing away my pocket.! The outgoing call rate, when I got my mobile was about Rs.12 outgoing and Rs.6 incoming! We had a second-to-second billing plan too. It used to be very funny, with people making as short a call as possible to avoid hefty phone bills. I remember, I had a client who would ask me if I was calling from my mobile, and if I answered yes, would immediately cut the line and call be back from his landline. It was convenient to own a mobile, and it was also a status symbol, but it was damned expensive. In 2003, Reliance launched its CDMA technology based mobile services, after laying out 80000 kms. of fibre cables across the length and breadth of the country. Everywhere you went, you could see the Reliance work
Read more

Rickshaws and Management

-
Image
Last week, I was returning from Vile Parle from a meeting by a rickshaw. To avoid driving in the office rush, I kept my car parked near the office in Malad. Somewhere between Jogeshwari and Goregaon, the driver swerved to overtake a tempo, and the rear wheel went over an elevated drainage cover.  I could feel the rickshaw tilting to the left. I threw my weight on the right and luckily, we stayed upright. It all happened very fast, and if I had not been alert, the rickshaw would have overturned. Needless to say, that got me thinking…. After 6 months at the helm of affairs as Director @Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies, I think it is like driving a rickshaw. Just listing a few management lessons I have learnt … The wheels are my team mates, my colleagues with authority (learnt that today!) with whom I navigate the academic path. When they know the road better than me, I listen to them. I need to see that they have enough air, and deflate ones with too much o
Read more