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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | The next frontier is rural net penetration

The next frontier is rural net penetration

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published Published on Sep 14, 2010   modified Modified on Sep 14, 2010

A seven-state survey on rural internet awareness revealed that close to 84% were ignorant of the medium’s existence. Of the ones who did know about it, 85% used the net only to access emails, 13% to know about the latest farming techniques and 8% to look up fertilisers, among other uses. We can acknowledge that internet penetration so far has been weak; but the past is not a guide to the future.

Exhibit A is the mobile revolution. Five years ago, the telecom ministry was fretting about meeting the tele-density target of 250 million. By the end of this year, we should have achieved nearly thrice that figure. Today, the telephone is not a rich man’s indulgence; it is an aid to every possible business, especially those in the unorganised sector. Carpenters, plumbers, and autorickshaw drivers use it to drum up business.

The aggregates, of course, hide the divergence between urban and rural telephone penetration. But no mobile services operator is looking at an urban nirvana — the growth is all in the smaller cities and rural areas. Some 30% of mobile phone connections are already in rural areas.

There is every reason to believe that the mobile revolution will drive internet penetration as well. While studies show that people in rural areas care mainly about basic things like voice telephony and music rather than web browsing, Indians have shown an ability to adopt technology faster than the rest of the world. The current preponderance of demand for voice and music may reflect low rural familiarity with the medium and low literacy, but if we consider the amount of private investment and R&D going into designing mobile interfaces for these segments, the mobile boom will surely spark an internet boom in rural areas. Add to that the soon-to-be-launched 3G and Wimax services, and wireless will be the way to go for both urban and rural users.

It is clear what the government must do to reduce the digital divide: Lay broadband pipes to wire up the whole country. With social sector schemes like NREGA and massive infrastructure spending in the rural areas putting money in the hands of the poor, the latter will be demanding broadband access almost as a birthright. From the farmer who wants to know global prices of wheat to the pensioner who wants to check the balance in his bank account, the net will become a great leveller.


DNA, 14 September, 2010, http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/editorial_the-next-frontier-is-rural-net-penetration_1437531


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