Mobile Internet Users

State-run telecom firm BSNL on Friday rolled out 4G service plan offer for Re 1 with one month validity in an attempt to draw more customers. The company has recently completed rollout of its 4G network across India. "Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) today (Friday) launched its much-anticipated 'Freedom Plan' -- a limited-period Re 1 offer that gives users to test BSNL's 4G mobile services for one full month. This initiative marks BSNL's celebration of India's Independence Day and offers citizens a chance to experience India's own indigenously developed 4G technology at no cost," the company said in a statement. The plan includes unlimited voice calls (local/STD), 2 GB high-speed data per day, 100 SMS/day and a free BSNL SIM. "With BSNL's 4G-designed, developed, and deployed under the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' mission -- we are proud to be putting India among a select group of nations that have built their own telecom stack. Our 'Freedom Plan' gives every Indian a chance to test and

The internet user base in India is set to cross 900 million this year, propelled by the growing use of Indic languages for digital content, according to a report by IAMAI and KANTAR. The 'Internet in India Report 2024,' reveals that the number of active internet users in India reached 886 million in 2024, a robust 8 per cent year-on-year growth. "The internet user base in India is set to surpass 900 million by 2025, driven by the growing use of Indic languages for digital content," according to the report. Rural India, with 488 million users, leads this growth and now accounts for 55 per cent of the total internet population. The report underpins the increasing role of Indic languages in shaping internet consumption patterns. Nearly all internet users (98 per cent) accessed content in Indic languages, with Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam emerging as the most popular due to their extensive availability. Over half (about 57 per cent) of urban internet users prefer consuming content in

The data from telecom operators reveals that a whopping 150 million users in India still use feature phones that highlights the need for the non-data-specific recharge options

It shows 57% prefer accessing internet in Indian languages

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said that internet services will remain functional on Thursday as the people are voting to elect a new government. The PTA in a statement on Wednesday said it had not yet received any instructions from the government to shut internet and that services would work without any interruption on Thursday. Pakistanis on Thursday began voting in the general elections to elect a new government to rule the cash-strapped country. The polling started at 8.00 AM and will continue without any break till 5.00 PM. A countrywide public holiday has been declared to enable a total of 128,585,760 registered voters to cast their votes. The authority's statement came a day after caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz on Tuesday hinted at the possible suspension of internet services in case of security issues in any area on election day. Many non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International, had called for uninterrupted internet access ac

The city and its adjoining districts faced relentless rains on Monday as the severe cyclonic storm loomed over the north coastal areas of Tamil Nadu

The Manipur government has extended mobile internet ban for another five days till October 31, officials said on Thursday. The move comes barely a week after Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said the government would withdraw the ban within the next few days. The ban was extended following "apprehensions that some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate videos inciting the passions of the public which might have serious repercussions on the law and order situation," a government notification said. The notification by commissioner (home) T Ranjit Singh informed that the DGP vide letter dated October 25 had "reported that there are still reports of incidents of violence like confrontation of the public with security forces, attempts to mob elected members residences and civil protests in front of police stations." "To thwart the designs and activities of anti-nationals and anti-socials and to maintain peace and communal

D2M is a broadcasting technology capable of transmitting multimedia content to consumers' smartphones without requiring an active internet connection

The Haryana government on Wednesday said mobile internet and SMS services in Nuh and some other places in the state will remain suspended till August 5 to prevent any disturbance to peace and public order in the wake of the communal clashes. Besides Nuh, the services will remain snapped in Faridabad, Palwal and the territorial jurisdiction of sub-division Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar of Gurugram district. The government had ordered the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Nuh district from 4 pm on Monday and later imposed the restrictions in some other parts too till August 2 in view of the "intense communal tension" and disturbance of public peace. Violence broke out at several places after stones were pelted during a religious procession and cars set on fire in Nuh on Monday. The order to extend the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services till August 5 was issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) T V S N Prasad Wednesday evening. "This order is extended to .

The count is just 0.5 million, whereas the target set by the government was 10 million by the end of 2022; India is also likely to miss its 50 million public wifi hotspots target by 2030

The Haryana Government on Sunday ordered suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Nuh district for three days over apprehensions of communal tension and breach of peace following a call for more protests over the abduction-murder of two men from Rajasthan allegedly by cow vigilantes. The restrictions "shall remain in force with effect from February 26 to February 28, 2023 (23:59 hrs)," according to an official order. Sources said security has been strengthened in Nuh, where hundreds of people blocked the Nuh-Alwar highway in Firozpur Jhirka on Friday demanding the arrest of the accused in the abduction and murder of the two men from Bharatpur whose charred bodies were found in Haryana's Bhiwani. "Haryana Government has issued a temporary suspension of mobile internet services (2G/3G/4G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS services including bulk SMS and excluding banking and mobile recharge, and all dongle services, etc. provided on mobile networks except the voice calls in the territorial

389 million people still did not use mobile internet in 2021, while 765.8 million did

Internet-enabled devices in the rural market will also get a push with the government's plan to fiberize all villages by 2025 under the BharatNet programme

Meta-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram has announced a new feature called "Private Story Likes" that will change how users interact with other people's Stories.

The digital adoption is fast increasing in rural India with a spurt in smartphone usage, as the total active internet population is likely to touch 900 million by 2025 from 622 million last year

Business Standard's Peerzada Abrar explains in this podcast - the whole controversy between Paytm and Google and about the Google Play Store billing system

People use the internet more when they are at home, for work, and for entertainment, leading to a fall in download speeds because of increased load.

Data usage has darted up 25-30 per cent since the lockdown began on March 25, the note said

The average mobile phone data speed nowadays is down over 20 per cent. Fixed broadband has seen an eight per cent decline in speed.

Smartphones are the device of choice for women users in India, with 60 per cent of women accessing the Internet only on these devices