18 million Indians online - 10 Future Developments as a result

I was not surprised when Times of India reported that Indians are taking to the Internet in a big way and are well on the way to beating US, China, Japan and Germany in terms of the sheer number of people going online. My Orkut friends network grows by the hour, I do not get an e-mail id for my name "Vijay" at even any of the lesser known e-mail services, my blog number are growing by hundreds every day. These, I think are ample evidence of the fact that Indians just love to surf the Internet.

For those of you who demand numbers, here they are...
The total online population in India, measured in terms of people aged over 15 years accessing internet, rose 7.8 per cent to 18.02 million in June, from 16.71 million just three months ago in March, a latest survey from US-based technology research firm comScore Networks reveals. During the same period the new Internet users numbers rose from 694 million to 713 million. That means that of the 19 million new netizens, close to 2 million new ones are from India which is a staggering 10% of the newbies.

The most serious omission in the survey is that the survey has taken into account only home internet users and not the cyber cafe users who equal or exceed the home users in number.

China comes second with a jump of 5.22 percent and Russia a close third with 5.14 percent growth. Developed nations like US and UK registered growths of less than 1%.

Now coming to what this means to India.. I love this...It is more interesting. I have made a list of 10 possibilities that I feel, such staggering numbers of online Indians, can open up for the country and business as a whole

1. With 18.02 million people, e-business would really get a kick-start. This is the age when the failed DotComs of 2001 could have had better chance at sailing through.
2. Entrepreneurship by the youth would take off in a big way as the Internet breaks down all barriers into conducting business worldwide.
3. NewsPapers will start feeling the heat as their readers go online in a big way.
4. TV, Radio and Internet is heading towards what I refer to as the "Big Fusion" in India. IPTV is going to be a reality in India sooner than later. It would further fuel Internet penetration.
5. Blogging is going to transform how people gather information. India will produce a few world famous bloggers in the days to come.
6. Cities across the country will soon start rolling out WiFi or Wi-Max citywide wireless Internet services. Mysore was the first to go wireless.
7. 3-G services would make a splash in India too soon as Internet connections on the move would be in demand.
8. Work from home concept to turn popular in India with high speed Internet connections turning commonplace.
9. Indian universities will start offering online courses for the millions of Indians who prefer to study from the confines of their homes. That will be a billion dollar market by itself.
10. E-governance initiatives by the government would be rapidly be embraced by the general public and there would be clamour for more of Internet based user-friendly services.
    

May the tribe of online Indians increase !!!

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PhotoCourtesy : TribuneIndia