After Jio’s launch, internet users grow 2.5 times in Gujarat in last 5 years

NE BUSINESS BUREAU

AHMEDABAD, SEP 5

Jio was launched on 5^th September 2016 and India saw a rise of 4G. Not only voice got freedom from tariff, but data was made easily accessible with affordability. This led to sharp rise in need of internet in across country, including Gujarat.

Believe it or not, the number of internet users increased by 2.5 times in last fiver years, post launch of Jio. In 2016, it is estimated that the number of Internet subscribers in Gujarat were less than 2 crores. The number has shot up to 5.05 crore by end of March 2021.

As per the Performance Indicator Report of Trai for March 2021, Gujarat had total 5.05 crore Internet subscribers, including 1.54 crore in rural area and 3.50 crore in urban area of state. Of the estimated population of Gujarat of 6.40 crore, about 78% are accessing Internet.

Before five years, users were paying about Rs350 per GB for 3G services, while voice calls were charged between 50 paise and Re1 per minute. Even the SMSes were charged by Re1 to Rs3 per message. With this kind of tariff, of the total bill paid by users, less than 30% was contributed by data and rest 70% was shared voice and SMSes.

In the span of five years, the scenario has changed completely. Now, of the total bill paid by users, the share of data consumption is 100% while voice calls and text messages share reduced to zero. At the same time, the cost of high-speed internet or 4G has come down by over 98% to less than Rs7 per GB. Even the cup of a tea is now expensive than 1GB in India.

As per Trai reports, by end of March 2016, Gujarat had 6.22 crore mobile users with 11 operators offering telecom services in the state. Of the total, Vodafone was the largest operator with 1.93 crore users. By end of June 2021, Gujarat had total 7 crore mobile users with Jio being the largest operator with 2.73 crore user base. In five years, the total number of operators are reduced four.

Nationally too, the number of Internet users increased by almost 2.5 times from 35.04 crore by end of March 2016 to 82.53 crore by end of March 2021 in India.