Rural internet users, local content to drive growth in user base: IAMAI
A report from the&nbsp;Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) claims that rural India will drive 75% of internet growth in the country, with the current user base expected to grow 39% by December 2015, primarily due to content in local languages. Internet penetration in India currently stands at 57%, with 188 million urban internet users and 81 million rural internet users. According to the report, primary reasons for accessing the internet are communication, social networking and entertainment. By December 2015, the report expects digital advertising spend in India to be $35.7bn, of which 5% is advertising in local language, but this percentage is expected to increase to 30% over the next 5 years.&nbsp;
A report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on the internet in local language claims that rural India will drive 75% growth in adding to the internet user base, while urban India will contribute by 16%. The current internet user base will grow by 39% by December 2015, and will primarily be due to content in local language. According the report, which surveyed over 65,000 individuals (including developers and publishers) across 35 cities, India has 353 million internet users as of June 2015. Of this, 269 million access the internet at least once a month. A Mint report states that this report has information combined from ‘various data sources’ in 2012, 2013 and 2014. At 57% penetration, there are 188 million urban internet users, out of which 81 million are local language users, which makes up 43% penetration. In rural India, there are 81 million internet users, out of which 46 million users use the internet in local languages, forming 57% penetration. Communication and entertainment form top uses for urban and rural users The report states that the Indian local language user base is growing at 47% year on year and has reached 127 million users in June 2015. Primary reasons to access the internet are communication, social networking and entertainment, although the IAMAI does not specify what comes under these specifically. Urban users will use the internet most for communication, whereas rural users will access the net for entertainment. $560.56 million digital ads spend in India by…

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