59% Indians will be internet users by 2021, base to double to 829 mn: Report

Internet users in the country will double by 2021 to 829 million users from 373 million users in 2016, driven by digital transformation according to a recent report.

This means roughly 59 per cent of the Indian population will use the internet. Also, there would be two billion networked devices in 2021 up from 1.4 billion in 2016.

Overall IP traffic is expected to grow 4-fold during the same period of five years at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent, the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Complete Forecast said.

"Combining device capabilities with faster, higher bandwidth and more intelligent networks is leading to wide doption of high bandwidth data, video and advanced multimedia applications that contribute to increased mobile and Wi-Fi traffic," said Sanjay Kaul, Managing Director, Service Provider Business, Cisco India SAARC.

"The need for optimised bandwidth management, network automation, end to end security and ultimately network monetisation through cost efficient data production is fuelling the growth of network automation, mass market 4G deployments and adoption, soon to be followed with 4.5G and 5G," Kaul added.

The report further explained that mobile to mobile (M2M) connections will represent 22 per cent of the total two billion devices and connections and will account for five percent of IP traffic by 2021.

Advancements in IoT applications such as smart meters, package tracking, digital health monitors and a host of other next-generation M2M services is driving this incremental growth.

Video will continue to dominate IP traffic and overall Internet traffic growth-representing 76 per cent of all Internet traffic in 2021, up from 57 percent in 2016, the report noted.

India will reach 84 billion Internet video minutes per month by 2021, which is one hundred and sixty thousand years of video per month, or about thirty two thousand video minutes every second, it explained.