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Jio impact? Mobile broadband data usage increases six times, crosses 1.3 billion GB

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DailyBiteJun 01, 2017 | 21:01

Jio impact? Mobile broadband data usage increases six times, crosses 1.3 billion GB

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio may have been bad news for telecom operators, but it sure has been a welcome development for millions of customers across the country. Jio with its disruptive pricing has caused its competition heavy losses. To counter its entry, established players like Bhati Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had to introduce plans with high data allocation for a fraction of the price they charged earlier.  

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However, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers' (KPCB) Internet Trends report for 2017 claims that the increased competition and disruption of the market has only worked in favour of the consumers. 

Consumption grows as data costs decline

The 350-page-plus report, which talks about internet trends from across the globe, has 55 pages dedicated to the mobile internet revolution taking place in India. 

The report shows that the consumption of data through mobile broadband grew over six times in less than one year, and stood at 1.3 billion GB a month by the end of March this year. This represents a sharp rise from the 200 million GB monthly consumption figure that was reported in June 2016. 

The report also sheds light on how data rates in the country have seen a welcome decline in the past year. As per the report, data prices (per GB) which stood at $3.5 in June 2016 slumped to $1.9 in March 2017. However, this number still pales in comparison to the $0.17 that Jio charges its customers for a GB of mobile data. 

KPCB claims the cost of data in India to be one of the lowest across the globe with the annualised cost of 1GB of data a month working out to less than two per cent of per capita GDP.

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The report adds that these reduced costs and subsequent rise in the use of bandwidth have seen a rise in the use of heavy apps, such as music and video streaming.

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Growing internet users in India

Hinting at Jio's effect on the mobile broadband landscape of the country, the report adds that India has grown to become the second-largest internet user base in the world with 355 million users – second only to China – by March 2017. According to the report's findings, this represents a 28 per cent increase over the June 2016 figure of 277 million users. 

Interestingly, 72 per cent of these users are less than 35 years old, with more than 35 per cent in the 15-24 age group bracket.

Jio impact?

The report is indicative of the sweeping effects of Reliance Jio on the mobile broadband market in India which underwent an overhaul after the cash-rich company jumped head-on into the telecom sector. Since its launch in September 2016, Reliance Jio has also helped the industry add new customers after it added more than 100 million customers in a matter of months. 

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Last updated: June 01, 2017 | 21:01
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