India Registers Over 279% Rise In Internet Subscribers In Last 10 Yrs: Govt
The rural tele-density which was 43.96 per cent on 31 March 2014 now stands at 59.19 per cent, registering 34.64 per cent increase
Aimed at enhancing internet connectivity in tier-2 and tier-3 cities along with rural areas, the Digital India Initiative has helped ensure that 95.15 per cent of villages in the country have access to the internet with 3G or 4G mobile connectivity, as of April 2024, according to the data by Ministry of Communication. The internet subscribers in the country have also increased from 251.9 million in 2014 to 954.40 million in March 2024, indicating an increase of 279.34 per cent over the last ten years.
As per the data from the Registrar General of India, there are 6,44,131 villages in the country as of April 2024. Out of this, 6,12,952 villages now have the 3G or 4G mobile connectivity.
Out of 954.4 million total internet subscribers in the country, the number of rural internet subscribers stands at 398.35 million as of March 2024. The rural teledensity which was 43.96 per cent on 31 March 2014 now stands at 59.19 per cent, registering a 34.64 per cent increase. However, the urban teledensity reduced by 8.27 per cent over the last ten years. The overall teledensity has increased to 85.69 per cent in March 2024 from 75.23 per cent in March 2014, as per the data from the ministry.
The definition of broadband in the country has increased from around 512 kbps in March 2014 to about 2 Mbps in March 2024.
According to the Ookla speed test, the average download speed in the country has jumped immensely from 4.18 Mbps in March 2014 to 105.85 Mbps in March 2024, witnessing a percentage increase of about 2432.29. India’s ranking in average Internet download speed has jumped from 130 to 16 over the same period.
One of the major reasons for the enhanced internet penetration has been attributed to the decrease in average data costs over the last 10 years. The average data costs per GB in India have come down from Rs 268.97 per GB in March 2014 to Rs 9.18 per GB in March 2024. The average data consumption has scaled up to 20.27 GB from 0.26 GB during the same period, as per the government data.
