Growth of Internet in India Five critical steps

Internet penetration rates: BRIC countries CountryPopulationPenetration % 1100 million 191 million 143 million 1200 million India poorest in penetration India Russia Brazil China Source:

Average download speeds Country Download speed Mbps USA is ranked 28th in the world in connection speeds. India is still struggling with 256 kbps as broadband! Source: Communications Workers of America study 2009

Networked Readiness Index  Part of the WEF Global Information Technology Report  India ranked 54 in terms of use of ICTs for competitiveness  China has raced past India over the last few years to 46 while we have dropped places

Recent initiatives President Barack Obama spoke of Digital infrastructure in inaugural speech. Followed by $7.2 Billion in funding to build high speed access to homes and businesses in USA National Broadband Initiative announced to build high speed broadband network to deliver 100mbps connectivity to every home and business in Australia

Why is Internet penetration important? Recent research by the World Bank finds that for every 10 percentage-point increase in the penetration of broadband services, developing countries can see an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points A new study demonstrates that increased adoption of Internet can accelerate business productivity, thereby generating income, jobs and government revenues in emerging economies

The time is right  Investments in eGovernance  To spur economic growth  Enable inclusive growth  Create jobs  Foster innovation

Five critical steps Recognize data networks and Internet as critical national infrastructure Encourage investments in growth & penetration by promoting both ISPs & telcos Use national resources to accelerate penetration: copper wire, spectrum Be technology agnostic for multiple forms of connectivity Promote proliferation of access devices to suit budgets and user needs