While checking the figures of Internet penetration in India, to-day, I
have come across these two figures:*

Number of Internet Subscribers in India:

(i) For quarter ending March 2007 (Q1): 92.71 million

(ii) For quarter ending June 2007 (Q2): 92.25 million (-46K)

Questions:

(a) Where have the 46k subscribers gone? Does it mean 46k persons
subscribed to Internet and then, finding it not useful, surrendered the
connection?

(b) Who could be these subscribers- individuals, organizations or cyber
café owners?

(c) Does it indicate any short-term aberration in the growth of Internet
in India or indicates a long-term secular trend of Internet plateauing
in India?

(d) Does it mean that Internet is not meeting any felt needs of
individuals, etc. and thus is being abandoned by old subscribers?

(e) Are any statistics available any where which indicate Internet
unsubscription in India (typically camouflaged in new subscriber data)?
(ISPs may have them)

(f) Are the statistics wrong (some technical glitch in
collection/compilation of data) or am I missing something?

Dr D.C.Misra

October 31, 2007

_______________________________________________________________________

* http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/Reports/37/ReportQE1.pdf, Annex
3.2, Chart II, p-35.



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